Respecting, thanking and protecting America's warriors on Veteran's Day.
Greg Krasovsky
November 11, 2022
Today let's take the time to show America's veterans our respect and
gratitude for their service to the United States of America.
Just as important is for all of us to do everything in our power, as citizens, taxpayers, voters and consumers, to make sure that
- our veterans are given proper respect, support and benefits after their service ends,
and
- Americans who are serving on active duty and in the reserves are kept out of military missions, operations, conflicts and full-blown wars wage to further economic & geopolitical interests of financial-industrial elites, including the Intelligence-Military-Industrial Complex, instead of protecting America's people and homeland.
Sadly, some wars & military interventions that were "justified" as necessary to protect America's democracy and freedom were in fact waged to secure profits and larger business interests of domestic and trans-national Financial-Industrial Groups[1].
But don't just take my word for it.
If you have not read "War is a Racket" (1935) by U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley D. Butler, then please take the time to read some of the quotes from this extremely important work below, including this one:
“There are only two reasons why you should ever be asked to give your youngsters.
One is defense of our homes.
The other is the defense of our Bill of Rights and particularly the right to worship God as we see fit.
Every other reason advanced for the murder of young men is a racket, pure and simple.”
"How we should remember, honor and protect the legacy of America's fallen veterans on Memorial Day - and protect our soldiers in future conflicts."
Greg Krasovsky, May 30, 2022
https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/2022/05/how-we-should-remember-honor-and.html
[1] To learn how Financial-Industrial Groups and the Elites that own them control governments, political parties, politicians, mass media and the entertainment industry please read the following posts in The Ukrainian-Russian-American Observer:
1. "Vote early! Vote often! Vote for democracy, freedom, peace
and prosperity!"
Greg Krasovsky, November 8, 2022
https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/2022/11/vote-early-vote-often-vote-for.html
2. "Slavery & Exploitation: alive and well world-wide in 2022, even in Western Europe and North America!"
Greg Krasovsky, August 18, 2022
https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/2022/08/slavery-exploitation-alive-and-well.html
3. "War in Ukraine - A modern example of how indispensable but expendable universal soldiers and ordinary people become victims and participants in the business (racket) of war."
Greg Krasovsky, February 23, 2022
https://ura-observer.blogspot.com/2022/02/war-in-ukraine-modern-example-of-how.html
P.S. On a side note, Major Butler had also served as the City of Philadelphia's Director of Public Safety, where he oversaw my American hometown's police and fire departments and tried to fight the endemic corruption and related crime (see below).
I wish we had a Police Commissioner
like General Butler when I served during as police officer in
Philadelphia (1989-1992) during the crack epidemic.
Heck, given today's crime wave in Philadelphia, including the daily shootings and carjackings, the citizens of Philadelphia could use a police commissioner like General Butler even today!
***
Major General Smedley Butler quotes:
Sources:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/115545.Smedley_D_Butler
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/smedley-butler-quotes
"War is a Racket" by Butler, Smedley D. 1935
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket
https://archive.org/details/warisracket00smed_0
...
“WAR is a racket.
It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.
It is the only one international in scope.
It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.”
...
War is just a racket... I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else.
...
“A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people.
Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about.
It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many.
Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”
...
For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it.
...
My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups.
This is typical with everyone in the military.
...
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers.
In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
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.
I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912.
I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916.
I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903.
In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.
Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints.
The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts.
I operated on three continents.”
...
The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent.
Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
...
“The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent.
But war-time profits -- ah! that is another matter -- twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent -- the sky is the limit.
All that traffic will bear.
Uncle Sam has the money.
Let's get it. Of”
...
“Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die.
The was the "war to end wars."
This was the "war to make the world safe for democracy."
No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason.
No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits.
No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here.
No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United State patents.
They were just told it was to be a "glorious adventure".
Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too.
So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month!
All that they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill...and be killed”
...
“Yes, we have had disarmament conferences and limitations of arms conferences.
They don't mean a thing.
One has just failed; the results of another have been nullified.
We send our professional soldiers and our sailors and our politicians and our diplomats to these conferences.
And what happens?
The professional soldiers and sailors don't want to disarm.
No admiral wants to be without a ship.
No general wants to be without a command.
Both mean men without jobs.
They are not for disarmament.
They cannot be for limitations of arms.
And at all these conferences, lurking in the background but all-powerful, just the same, are the sinister agents of those who profit by war.
They see to it that these conferences do not disarm or seriously limit armaments.”
...
“The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labor before the nations manhood can be conscripted.”
...
“Let the workers in these plants get the same wages
-- all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers -- yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders --
everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches!
Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and majors pay half of their monthly $30 wage to their families and pay war risk insurance and buy Liberty Bonds.
Why shouldn't they?
They aren't running any risk of being killed or of having their bodies mangled or their minds shattered.
They aren't sleeping in muddy trenches.
They aren't hungry.
The soldiers are!
Give capital and industry and labor thirty days to think it over and you will find, by that time, there will be no war.
That will smash the war racket -- that and nothing else.
Maybe”
...
“There are only two reasons why you should ever be asked to give your youngsters.
One is defense of our homes.
The other is the defense of our Bill of Rights and particularly the right to worship God as we see fit.
Every other reason advanced for the murder of young men is a racket, pure and simple.”
...
“The active pacifists, however, are not of this class: they are not men without impulsive force but men in whom some impulse to which war is hostile is strong enough to overcome the impulses that lead to war.”
...
“To summarize:
Three steps must be taken to smash the war racket.
1. We must take the profit out of war.
2. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war.
3. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.”
― Smedley D. Butler, "War is a Racket"
***
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed "Maverick Marine",[1] was a senior United States Marine Corps officer who fought in the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution and World War I. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, Central America, the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. Butler was, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. By the end of his career, Butler had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (along with Wendell Neville and David Porter) and the Medal of Honor, and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.
In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, and the media ridiculed the allegations, but a final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's testimony.
Butler later became an outspoken critic of American wars and their consequences.
In 1935, Butler wrote a book titled War Is a Racket, where he describes and criticizes the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those in which he had been involved, including large American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind U.S. wars (thus predating US President Dwight Eisenhower's "military-industrial complex" speech by at least 25 years). After retiring from service, he became a popular advocate, speaking at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists, and church groups in the 1930s.
...
Philadelphia Director of Public Safety
In 1924 newly elected Mayor of Philadelphia W. Freeland Kendrick asked President Calvin Coolidge to lend the City a military general to help him rid Philadelphia's municipal government of crime and corruption.
At the urging of Butler's father,[4] Coolidge authorized Butler to take the necessary leave from the Corps to serve as Philadelphia's director of public safety in charge of running the city's police and fire departments from January 1924 until December 1925.[5]
He began his new job by assembling all 4,000 of the city police into the Metropolitan Opera House in shifts to introduce himself and inform them that things would change while he was in charge.
Since he had not been given authority to fire corrupt police officers, he switched entire units from one part of the city to another,[4] to undermine local protection rackets and profiteering.[36][37]
Within 48 hours of taking over Butler organized raids on more than 900 speakeasies, ordering them padlocked and, in many cases, destroyed.
In addition to raiding the speakeasies, he also attempted to eliminate other illegal activities: bootlegging, prostitution, gambling and police corruption.
More zealous than he was political, he ordered crackdowns on the social elite's favorite hangouts, such as the Ritz-Carlton and the Union League, as well as on drinking establishments that served the working class.[38]
Although he was effective in reducing crime and police corruption, he was a controversial leader.
In one instance he made a statement that he would promote the first officer to kill a bandit and stated, "I don't believe there is a single bandit notch on a policeman's guns [sic] in this city; go out and get some."[36]
Although many of the local citizens and police felt that the raids were just a show, they continued for several weeks.[37]
He implemented programs to improve city safety and security. He established policies and guidelines of administration and developed a Philadelphia police uniform that resembled that of the Marine Corps.[39]
Other changes included military-style checkpoints into the city, bandit-chasing squads armed with sawed-off shotguns and armored police cars.[39]
The press began reporting on the good and the bad aspects of Butler's personal war on crime.
The reports praised the new uniforms, the new programs and the reductions in crime but they also reflected the public's negative opinion of their new Public Safety Director.
Many felt that he was being too aggressive in his tactics and resented the reductions in their civil rights, such as the stopping of citizens at the city checkpoints.
Butler frequently swore in his radio addresses, causing many citizens to suggest his behavior, particularly his language, was inappropriate for someone of his rank and stature.[40]
Some even suggested Butler acted like a military dictator, even charging that he wrongfully used active-duty Marines in some of his raids.[40]
Maj. R.A. Haynes, the federal Prohibition commissioner, visited the city in 1924, six months after Butler was appointed. He announced that "great progress"[41] had been made in the city and attributed that success to Butler.[41]
Eventually Butler's leadership style and the directness of actions undermined his support within the community.
His departure seemed imminent. Mayor Kendrick reported to the press, "I had the guts to bring General Butler to Philadelphia and I have the guts to fire him."[42]
Feeling that his duties in Philadelphia were coming to an end, Butler contacted Gen. Lejeune to prepare for his return to the Marine Corps.
Not all of the city felt he was doing a bad job, though, and when the news started to leak that he would be leaving, people began to gather at the Academy of Music.
A group of 4,000 supporters assembled and negotiated a truce between him and the mayor to keep him in Philadelphia for a while longer, and the president authorized a one-year extension.[43]
Butler devoted much of his second year to executing arrest warrants, cracking down on crooked police and enforcing prohibition.
On January 1, 1926, his leave from the Marine Corps ended and the president declined a request for a second extension.
Butler received orders to report to San Diego and prepared his family and his belongings for the new assignment.[44]
In light of his pending departure, he began to defy the mayor and other key city officials.
On the eve of his departure, he had an article printed in the paper stating his intention to stay and "finish the job".[45]
The mayor was surprised and furious when he read the press release the next morning and demanded his resignation.[45]
After almost two years in office, Butler resigned under pressure, stating later that "cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in."[38]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
***
War is a racket [electronic resource] : the antiwar classic by America's most decorated General, two other anti-interventionist tracts, and photographs from The Horror of it
by Butler, Smedley D. (Smedley Darlington), 1881-1940; ebrary, Inc
Publication date 2003
https://archive.org/details/warisracket00smed_0
***
War Is a Racket
War Is a Racket is a speech and a 1935 short book by Smedley D. Butler, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General and two-time Medal of Honor recipient.
Based on his career military experience, Butler discusses how business interests commercially benefit from warfare. He had been appointed commanding officer of the Gendarmerie during the 1915–1934 United States occupation of Haiti.
After Butler retired from the US Marine Corps in October 1931, he made a nationwide tour in the early 1930s giving his speech "War Is a Racket".
The speech was so well received that he wrote a longer version as a short book published in 1935.
His work was condensed in Reader's Digest as a book supplement, which helped popularize his message. In an introduction to the Reader's Digest version, Lowell Thomas praised Butler's "moral as well as physical courage".[2] Thomas had written Smedley Butler's oral autobiography.
According to the HathiTrust online library, the book published in 1935 is in the public domain.
A scanned copy of the original 1935 printing is available for download, in part or in whole, on the HathiTrust website, along with a detailed description of the copyrights.[3]
In War Is a Racket, Butler points to a variety of examples, mostly from World War I, where industrialists, whose operations were subsidized by public funding, were able to generate substantial profits, making money from mass human suffering.
The work is divided into five chapters:
War is a racket
Who makes the profits?
Who pays the bills?
How to smash this racket!
To hell with war!
It contains this summary:
War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket
***
Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable).[1][2] It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.[3] Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major US veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.[4]
Veterans Day is distinct from Memorial Day, a US public holiday in May. Veterans Day celebrates the service of all US military veterans, while Memorial Day honors those who have died while in military service.[5] Another military holiday that also occurs in May, Armed Forces Day, honors those currently serving in the US military. Additionally, Women Veterans Day is recognized by a growing number of US states that specifically honor women who have served in the US military.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
***
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