Re: [Nolug] O.K., you've probably heard this one before...

On Fri, 2003-06-06 at 12:41, Michael Flora wrote:
[snip]
> "War is a racket. Our stake in that racket has never
> been greater in all our peacetime history. It may seem
> odd for me, a military man, to adopt such a
> comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent 33
> years and four months 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 he could do was operate
> his racket in three city districts. We Marines
> operated on three continents."
>
> --Marine Corps Major General Smedley D. Butler.
> Twice wounded in action and twenty times decorated,
> Smedley Butler was also one of the few Americans
> to be twice awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Excellent, but sad, quote. Unfortunately, it's a bit wrong:
http://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm

http://www.grunts.net/legends/butler.html
"Both Germany and France were threatening to send troops to Haiti
for unpaid debts. To counter any foriegn intervention in the area,
President Wilson sent in the Marines in 1915."

I'm sure there were other reasons, too. However, better for
American corporations to plunder Central America than for the
Eurpoeans to do it. Some choice, though, huh?

http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Ron Johnson, Jr.     Home: ron.l.johnson@cox.net          |
| Jefferson, LA  USA   http://members.cox.net/ron.l.johnson |
|                                                           |
| Regarding war zones: "There's nothing sacrosanct about a  |
| hotel with a bunch of journalists in it."                 |
|     Marine Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor (Retired)          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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