War is a Racket

[gravelrash]

This was written by a USMC Major General in 1935. He was twice awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor which speaks for itself.

Limk: http://educate-yourself.org/cn/smedleywarisracket.shtml

 

Some of the other articles on this site are too wacko for me, but this one gives an interesting insight into what are probably the true causes of many modern useless wars.

[Flashermac]

This is hardly a surprise to any combat vet. But at least in the past the nation's leaders usually had the decency to have somebody in their own family in uniform.

 

 

[gravelrash]

Sorry to revitalize an old thread. But I posted it on TV, it was deleted 5 minutes later, I complained and have had my account suspended. Seems it wasn't PC enough?

[chuckwoww]

There's one glaring ommission in that article. There are quite a few who like war for itself...the excitement, the camaraderie, the challenge. Beats flipping burgers.

[Steve]

There has always been an industry that made money off wars. The Romans had hundreds if not thousands of people following their armies. Slave traders bought POWs or the children and women of villages that were sacked, they bought and traded the spoils from wars from the army, sold provisions to the army itself. Hundreds of people would swarm like vultures after a battle and take rings, singlets, gold tooth, earings, etc. from the dead, any trinket that seemed to have anything of value.

 

Haliburton and the rest are just the modern version. Just about every President now wants to win some sort of military action to put on his CV: Granada for Reagan, Gulf War for Bush 41, Balkins for Clinton and we're well aware of Dubya's forays into combat.

 

Anyone that knows war wouldn't wish it for any person or nation. Circumstances sometimes leaves you no choice but its not fun and games. No, I've never been in a war, thank God, but have seen the results of it in family and friends.

[chuckwoww]

Circumstances sometimes leaves you no choice but its not fun and games.

 

I think you're wrong there Steve. Some people do find it fun. Dangerous fun but that's the appeal. Video games with an edge.

 

[Steve]

Sadly you're right. Especially the way war is fought nowadays. I guess I wrote thinking of those on the front lines.

 

My uncle was in the Korean war and told me some harrowing stories. He said one morning a mile or so away the grass was moving on the whole hillside stretching forever it seemed and it was actually thousands upon thousands of Chinese conscripts miles away coming towards them.

[chuckwoww]

I think it's some of the combat troops that enjoy it most these days. That's what they sign up for.

 

I had an uncle killed at Dunkirk. I never knew him but my father said the British Expeditionary Force never really wanted to be there. Even less when they found out what they were up against.

[Flashermac]

Read William Shirer's account of the reaction to the outbreak of the war in Berlin, where he happened to be at the time. When the news of Hitler's attack on Poland was announced, people were stunned. No cheers, no patriotic songs as in all the European capitals in 1914. Just silence and a feeling of "God, not again".

 

Governments have a nasty habit of going to war without asking the people who will have to fight it what they want.

 

p.s. I'm still puzzled by the British and French declarations of war on Germany for Hitler's invasion of Poland, but not against the Soviets when Stalin joined him. Stalin always seemed to be able to get away with things that Adolf couldn't.

Where the western governments afraid of their own communist sympathizers?

 

[Steve]

Hmmm...interesting question. Maybe it seemed that the Nazis were expansive and from the little I know Stalin wasn't or not nearly as expansionist. Another factor could be that it was clear Hitler and Stalin hated each others governments or ideologies and possible that the Russians could become allies and the Russian/Germany agreement over Poland was tenuous at best, which it turned out to be.