"War is a racket. . .
It may seem odd for me, a military man,
to adopt such a comparison.
Truthfulness compels me to.
I spent 33 years in active service as a member of our
country's most agile military force --the Marine Corps --
. . .
I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico
safe for American oil interests in 1914.
I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place
for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in.
I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central
American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.
The record of racketeering is long.
I helped purify Nicaragua for the international
banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12.

I brought light to the Dominican Republic
for American sugar interests in 1916.
I helped make Honduras 'right'
for American fruit companies in 1903 . . .
"Looking back on it, I feel
I might have given Al Capone a few hints.
The best that he could do was to
operate his racket in three city districts.
We Marines operated on three continents".
S. D. Butler

"Butler understood the more honest function of the Marines (and U.S. foreign policy in general) was to forcefully maintain structures protecting the haves from the have-nots." { from www.VeteransForPeace.Org/military.htm}.

We feature many more excellent quotes of this sort at our http://LiberalsLikeChrist.Org/warvspeace.html .

cited by Ray Dubuque Opednews.com

Comments:

All about the money...in war, men are but tools to an end..

comment by ekyprogressive on Mar 23, 2008 7:57 PM ()

china,,,,everything these days in china...

reply by ekyprogressive on Mar 24, 2008 4:43 AM ()

After the war the money comes mint fresh condition. The vets return in less good shape. They are the ones who pay for the war.
The $100 bills arrive shrink-wrapped on palettes to Israel. When we pay shekels for them, the notes appear in serial number order.
US banknotes used to have blue threads in them. These don't. Are they printed in Pakistan?

reply by bumpedoff on Mar 23, 2008 11:44 PM ()

Welldone.