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On
War, by U.S General Smedley Butler (1933)
I
spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service
as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine
Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to
Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being
a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the
Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was
just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the
members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own
until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended
animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with
everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico,
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 benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering
is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house
of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic
for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it
that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years,
I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking
back on it, I feel that I could 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.
[Biographical
information on Gen. Smedley Butler and a longer speech]
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