Monday, May 28, 2012

"War Is A Racket" Video USMC General Smedley Butler

Re-post from NamSouth 2009 and FNC 2011/2012

"War Is A Racket" Video USMC General Smedley Butler

********
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintances sneered and slanged, I wept:
For I had longed to see him hanged.
--Hilaire Belloc

"War Is A Racket" Video USMC General Smedley Butler


War is a Racket by Smedley Butler is a famous speech denouncing the military industrial complex. This speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient exposes war profits that benefit few at the expense of many. Throughout his distinguished career in the Marines, Smedley Darlington Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. To Hell with war.

*********

Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881June 21, 1940), nicknamed " The Fighting Quaker " and " Old Gimlet Eye ", was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.
During his 34 years of Marine Corps service, Butler was awarded numerous medals for heroism including the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (the highest Marine medal at its time for officers), and subsequently the Medal of Honor twice. Notably, he is one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, and one of only three to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor, and the only person to be awarded a Marine Corps Brevet Medal and a Medal of Honor for two different actions.
In addition to his military career, Smedley Butler was noted for his outspoken anti- interventionist views, and his book War is a Racket. His book was one of the first works describing the workings of the military-industrial complex and after retiring from service, he became a popular speaker at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists and church groups in the 1930s.

3 comments:

  1. Since I first read of Gen. Butler he has become my military hero, second only to my father, who was wounded in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Moreover, he has made me an embarrassment to family and friends, who have to hear me say often, "I was a Rocket Scientist for 34 years and then I read the work of Gen. Smedley Butler. Now I call myself a Racket Scientist." We'll see how NC State University likes one of its graduates claiming a Racket Science profession. The great value of being near 80 is that you just don't have to give a damn. Thanks for honoring this great American on Memorial Day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Only an uninformed idiot could deny this.>(I care not who make`s a nation`s policies ,as long as I control it`s purse string`s.Nathan Rothchild.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The great value of being near 80 is that you just don't have to give a damn.

    !!:)Screw them all. Racket Science, I love it.

    ReplyDelete