War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier | Smedley D. Butler

War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier | Smedley D. Butler | What every taxpayer should know

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	War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier Smedley D. Butler Feral House, 2003 - 80 pages average customer review:based on 46 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Distiguished Marine's Indictment of U.S. Foreign Policy

The government of the United States has attempted to play the role of world policeman since the Spanish-American War of 1898. This attempt to play the role of world policeman has repeatedly led to military intervention in foreign countries. Brigadier General Smedley Butler (1881-1940) was a Marine for 33 years, was a participant in several military interventions in foreign countries, and was twice awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. This book contains three essays that General Butler wrote during the 1930s, as well as an introduction and several photographs. The three essays by General Butler are a moving and powerful criticism of military intervention in foreign countries.

General Butler's thesis is that the real purpose of foreign military intervention is to benefit politically influential corporations. General Butler provides impressive evidence to support his thesis for the case of the participation of the United States in World War I. General Butler names some of the corporations that benefited from participation in World War I, and also documents the remarkable size of the benefits that these corporations received. General Butler documents the size of the benefits by comparing the annual profits of the corporations during the years immediately preceeding World War I with the annual profits of the corporations during World War I.

An important aspect of General Butler's essays is the emphasis that General Butler places on the psychological effects of war on the soldiers who survive. General Butler uses phrases such as "shattered minds" (p. 24), "mentally unbalanced" (p. 25), and "mentally broken" (p. 37) to describe the psychological effects of war on the soldiers who serve. General Butler documents the extent of the effects on veterans when he writes, "I have visited eighteen government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men - men who were the pick of the nation eighteen years ago." (P. 33)

Another interesting and important effect of war that is mentioned by General Butler is the misuse of religion. General Butler states that during World War I "[w]ith few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor to kill, kill, kill." (p. 35) General Butler mentions the misuse of religion, but does not discuss it at length or attempt to explain its causes. I mention this misuse of religion because it is an important issue that deserves the careful attention of historians and political scientists.

General Butler offers three proposals for reform. The most interesting of the three proposals is a constitutional amendment that would limit the role of the armed forces to the defense of the United States. General Butler's proposed constitutional amendment states that the navy must remain within 500 miles of the coast of the continental United States, that military aircraft must remain within 750 miles of the coast of the continental United States, and that the army must remain within the continental United States.

In the twentyfirst century, the government of the United States is still attempting to play the role of world policeman. The persistence of this attempt to play the role of world policeman makes this moving and powerful book relevant to current events. Every person who is interested in the history of the United States or is concerned about the current policies of the government of the United States can benefit from reading this book.

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What every taxpayer should know

This is an excellent little book written by America's most decorated Army officer. He certainly writes from the perspective of one who should have known the hidden agendas behind the imperial wars of the early twentieth century. Had his sage advice been heeded, tens of thousands of American lives might have been spared in the previous century. Every American should read this book so that he can intelligently examine and vote on Americas current foreign entanglements. The book, although written more than seven decades ago, is fully relevent today in looking at American foreign policy. Butler recognized late in his life that George Washington was correct in saying that we should avoid all foreign entanglements.

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Outstanding book - very timely despite it's age

General Butler's military record is such that nobody could reasonably consider him cowardly or unpatriotic (a two-time Medal of Honor winner). His blunt analysis of the motivations behind wars, who pays the cost and who reaps the benefit is certainly on target. Had I not known the book was written over 60 years ago, I would have believed it to be a 21st century work. This is an interesting and provocative book - well worth the (little) time it takes to read it.

Many Wars, Many Rackets

Smedley got it right. I'd also add that there are many wars that serve as rackets, including the War on Drugs and the War on Immigrants, both of which provide all sorts of business for our growing prison industrial complex.
There is actually some footage of General Smedley Butler featured in the documentary "The Corporation." It deals with the attempted corporate coup of the 1940s.
People who appreciate what Butler is saying also will want to check out Eugene Jarecki's documentary on the military industrial complex, "Why We Fight." It's one of the most important DVDs in my collection. I've purchased several copies for sharing, and have seen how it transforms attitudes about war. Hopefully, the American people will make more of an effort to create wealth through more constructive endeavors, like building a renewable energy infrastructure and investing in "natural capitalism." Websites like Sustainable Business and Natural Capitalism provide all sorts of ideas and models of how we can get rich without destroying our souls.

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An Entertaining Little Book That Gets a Lot Wrong

Smedley Butler wrote this book after a sudden conversion to pacifism. Unfortunately the rightousness of his conversion comes through with a number of mistatements and twists (or perhaps ignorance given Butler's lack of higher eductaion in national security affairs). Like the "Merchants of Death" hearings by Republican Congressmen in the same time period, a position is staked out, ie. "War is Bad and is Caused by War Profiteers" and seeks to prove it.
The reviews that accompany this book show an uncritical view of both the book and an appalling ignorance of the military technology of WWI.
Take the issue of saddles. First, there was no great mobile motorized society to draw an army from as in WW2. Motor trucks and tractors as prime movers for artillery and logistics distribution were in their infancy. 90% of all artillery and 99% of all supplies were moved by horses pulling caisons, wagons and gun tubes once they left the railheads. While many wagons were managed by drivers on a seat, most caisons and guns were pulled by horse teams controlled by riders, one per pair of horse. Each required a saddle. A 75mm M1897 gun required six to twelve horses depending on terrain, giving three to six drivers, each requiring a saddle. The US Army deployed over 1,000 such guns by Nov 1918. Each gun had a number of caisons carrying ammo. Then add in that such saddles were worn out within three months, and the artillery alone, and the requirements add up. While the US employed a minimum (compared to the other armies on the Western Front) amount of cavalry in Europe, the Mexican border was secured by cavalry brigades, some 40-50,000 troops, with supporting equipment and weapons.
Next add the problem of mobilization. The US Army, including the National Guard and the Reserve, did not exceed 45,000 horse soldiers and 500 field guns in May 1917. The requirements for saddles for the mounted force were minimal at peacetime expenditure. Then suddenly the US was at war, the Army was to be expand to first 1, then 2 and finally over 5 million men, with minimal preparation, and massive amounts of equipment and weapons were needed. Orders were placed, funds generated and in the way of American war and a democracy mobilizing, the disorganized and uncoordinated efforts generated excess and redundancy. Just as important, is that the war ended just as the US mobilization had been rationalized and was getting into stride. Saddles weren't the only items that were produced after the war to contracts already let from funds already obligated with products already in the manufacturing line. Tanks, artillery, machine guns, rifles, canvas personal gear, ammunition, (even destroyers) all these items had more produced after the war ended then during the conflict. So much was manufactured that the US Army went to war in 1941 in uniforms, gear and with weapons not much changed from 1920, because there was too much surplus left from WWI and Congress wouldn't appropriate funds to replace it. As far as destroyers, so many were built between 1918 and 1922, that a new US destroyer wasn't built until 1934.
What is more is the effect this book and the "Merchants of Death" hearings had on the American people. They were significant parts of the isolationist and pacifist reaction to the advance of militarism and totalitarianistic agression throughout the world starting with Japan's attack on China in 1932. That the Japanese militarists, Hitler and Mussolini got as far as they did and that so many died and the US was so unprepared for WW2 can be partly blamed on this book.

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