'Soldiers work for corporations, not for the people'

[Joanne98]

Now, that's a statement sure to make angry nearly every man or woman -- and their families -- who ever served in the U.S. military. (I did not.) But, a person's reaction to the above is really of no consequence. The statement is true. Down to its core. No less a critic than this nation's only double Medal of Honor recipient said the same. Major General Smedley Butler (USMC) wrote in "War Is A Racket."

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.

Though written decades ago, the entire essay describes perfectly the intentions and actions of the Bush Crime Family and the breathtaking destruction they brought to our nation's institutions, the military more so than others, with their unlawful decision to enter into two wars of "opportunity" and two illegal occupations -- Afghanistan and Iraq. The consequent damage from those decisions is, at this point in our history, incalculable.

However, one incident of nearly unimaginable violence for which Bush and Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld share immediate and direct responsibility occurred earlier today in Iraq when a US soldier opened fire on his comrades killing five of them as he waited in a clinic at Camp Liberty outside Baghdad. According to the AP, "Pentagon officials said the shooting happened at a stress clinic, where troops can go for help with the stresses of combat or personal issues. It was unclear whether those killed were workers at the clinic or were there for counseling. No details were released about the gunman or what might have provoked the shooting."

But, we can guess the provocation.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Soldiers-work-for-corpora-by-Mike-Malloy-090511-324.html

I think after fighting about war for a straight 30 years everybody has to know that by now.

[HereSince1628]

1. Every generation must learn that anew

It's been known forever. But, just like multiplication tables, you aren't born knowing it.

[jody]

3. But in a society where learning multiplication tables has been replaced with calculators, where do

people learn the basics about which Butler wrote so eloquently simple?

Almost no one knows about the corporatists attempt to overthrow FDR and use Butler as their puppet. They picked the wrong man when they chose Butler.

That in an era when a senior official of the American Legion made Mussolini an honorary member and corporatists hoped to establish a fascist state in the U.S.

Benito Mussolini said "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."

[HereSince1628]

4. In the same place where their slide-rule using forbears did...

People aren't born with an innate suspicion of corporations. Evolutionarily speaking, humans haven't had time to adapt to corporate stuctures replacing family groups. So the dangers of corporate power must be learned, and so every generation must learn. It would be nice if this learning were facilitated by teaching, but it isn't essential. Every generation will come to understand corporate power. Some of each generation will be attracted to its dark side, some will be attracted to the light side. In the end the world will endure in a mostly boring gray that makes distinctions between light and dark difficult.

[cdsilv]

6. War is armed robbery writ large....n/t

[HereSince1628]

7. War is poor people fighting and dying for stubborn rich people

It's sold as patriotic to encourage acceptance of all the dying.

[atreides1]

2. Speaking as former soldier

General Butler was right!!!

When was the last time that the US military actually fought to defend the US Constitution against all enemies?

Anyone???

[HereSince1628]

5. In a pure sense, I think never.

The rich have much to lose, the poor not so very much. So to make the game of war an even proposition, the poor risk their lives for the benefit of the rich. Few care about the Constitution, its an old piece of paper with very faded writing.

[dgibby]

8. As a retired sailor, I agree.

War is a "for profit" enterprise, where the Masters of the Universe back both/all sides, thereby profiting no matter who wins or loses. That how the Rothschild's came to power.

[bertman]

9. Thanks, Joanne98. Smedley Butler should be THE most famous American military man

of the 20th century, but only a tiny minority of us even know who he was, much less what he did for our nation.

If this were taught to our kids a whole lot fewer of them would join the military.

It would be interesting to know if any American President, other than FDR, has ever paid tribute to Gen. Butler, or even spoken publicly his name.

I'll bet the answer is no.

[Bert]

10. Too true

I served four years in the active duty Air Force and I knew what I was getting into. The problem is I didnt really see an alternative. The code word for our millitary serving corporate interests is called 'defending our interests'. These interests are usually corporate interests and involve vast sums of money and resources, some of which go to get certain politicians elected in a country that equates money with free speech. I think the Iraq war for control of oil could be a textbook example of a war for resources that was sold on false pretences.

Ironically enough, I remember in basic a sergeant giving us a lecture that all wars are based on resources. A strange place to hear a bit of truth. The main problem though is that in our society with it's emphasis on the top 1% controlling most of the resources and production, those who fight dont even get to see the benefit if they win. While Halibuton, for example does.

As for joining the millitary, our society is increasingly set up so that this is the only way out of the slums. Republicans seem to want to keep it that way. No training programs for high school graduates, more vouchers to keep the rich from paying for the education of the poor, increasing college tuition rates so that only the wealthy can send their children to advanced schools. A society that in short consists of haves and have nots. This is the ideal society to force poor ambitious young people into the millitary as the only way out of the ghetto.