smedley butler military industrial complex

It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.Ī racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. It is the only one international in scope. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is very, very lucrative for people in high places. It is a must read still today, as his logic and clarity offers deep insight into why our priorities are so stoutly centered around war and security. His book, War is a Racket, denounces the workings of the military-industrial complex, the network of industrialists, financiers, and government officials who directly profit from war, a security state, and the industries that support this. Butler has unique credibility when it comes to discussing the workings of the war machine. Having been wounded in the boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, and having seen the horrors of France during World War I, as well as combat in several other conflicts, Maj. A highly decorated and courageous veteran of multiple overseas conflicts, Smedley Butler is still, to this day, one of a small handful of American soldiers to twice receive the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat. Led by powerful business magnates with the intention of ousting President Roosevelt and installing a Fascist dictatorship ruled by business magnates and a private army of half a million US soldiers, this coup was disrupted by Butler’s integrity and willingness to be one of the military industrial complex’s first whistle-blowers. In the 1930’s, an outstanding Major General of the Marine Corps, Smedley Butler, went public with information that he was approached by powerful industrialists to be involved in a plot to overthrow the United States government. How is it that our national response to the 9/11 attack has triggered such a destructive, expensive, confusing and open-ended military conflict, largely presided over by a Nobel Peace Prize winning president? Cui Bono – Who benefits? This confusion has been highlighted by the recent push to initiate a bombing campaign against Syria, even though it is widely known that any campaign against the Syrian government would be in direct support of Al Qaeda, the group supposedly to blame for the attacks on 9/11.įor 12 years now the casualties on all sides have mounted and the Middle East has become increasingly destabilized. After marking the 12th anniversary of the terrible events of 9/11 and remembering the over 3000 lives that were lost, the American people find themselves embroiled in endless military conflict without clear objectives, without a clear definition of who or what we are still fighting, and without respectable leadership.

Smedley butler military industrial complex