Rating: 
Summary: Tub-Thumping
Review: Tub-thumping denunciation of war as the private realm of money-grubbing profiteers from one who knows. No room here for nuance as Marine General Smedley Butler lays it on the line big time. Parallels with Iraq war, Halliburton, and other contract-hungry vultures, are too strong to ignore. Too bad this kind of anti-empire rhetoric is no longer heard from a high command looking for executive employment at retirement. Clearly, we're all much the worse for its absence. Photos are unforgettable and add graphic reminder to extremely slender text. Unfortunately, Adam Parfrey's introduction remains sketchy and does little more than whet the appetite -- a stronger historical context would surely have helped. Smedley Butler's good name and blunt talk need to be revived now more than ever. There's something wonderfully early American about his honesty, directness, and anti-militarism, something that has been lost to an electronic age of empire building, media manipulation and moral deceit. More than a mere general, his ideals remain those of a true patriot.
Rating:
Summary: The Hell of War.
Review: War is hell. Reprinted by Feral House Press, _War is a Racket_ is an antiwar rant by "America's Most Decorated Soldier", Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler. In fact, this brief book, includes several essays, including an introductory piece by Adam Parfrey, _War is a Racket_, two essays dealing with the First and Second World Wars and arguing for isolationism, and a series of gruesome photos of war time tragedies from the antiwar book _The Horror of It_. _War is a Racket_ offers some interesting insights into the individuals and businesses behind warfare, who make profits off the bodies of dead soldiers. However, at times the book veers off into near communistic insanity in its hatred for corporate capitalism and its insistence that all men should earn the same wage regardless of profession during wartime. In fact, wars have often been provoked with little or no justification, often at the whims of bankers and transnational elites, and wars are often poorly conducted so as not to serve the best interests of America and the American soldier. However, war itself is a necessary fact of life in the world of nations. The idea that war can be totally eliminated through some international means of collaboration is not only absurd, but all the more likely to foster the world's biggest totalitarian system yet devised. In fact, to suggest that war be eliminated is tantamount to suggesting that one tolerate the intolerable. However, this is not really General Butler's position. Instead, Butler argues that war itself cannot be eliminated but that the United States should not become entangled in events which are not of its concern and thus try to maintain neutrality at all costs. For instance, if the United States were to be invaded by foreign occupiers, then of course war would become necessary. Also, if a given nation poses a direct threat to the well being of the citizens of the U.S., then war is inevitable provided that that nation cannot be quelled through diplomacy. However, to fight a war for purely economic interests of profit, thereby risking the lives of countless young men merely to increase the profits of corporate interests, is entirely immoral. The real question then becomes how can one know when the interests of America are really being put first. In recent times, many have started to question the tactics of President George W. Bush's "War on Terror" initiative and invasion of Iraq, post-9/11, on precisely the same grounds that individuals like Smedley had questioned the First and Second World Wars. Whether America's true interests are being put first remains to be seen. The book concludes with some ghastly photos of wartime attrocities, including pictures of young men badly disfigured (one picture shows a man with half his face missing, both upper jaw and nose being completely removed). Such is the price of maintaining American sovereignity and imperial power. Or, as Smedley would cynically observe, such is the price we pay for domination by corporate elites.Also of interest: _Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace_, a collection of "isolationist" essays edited by Harry Elmer Barnes and revealing the hidden agenda behind United States entry into World War II. Currently available from the Institute for Historical Review.
Rating:
Summary: The Hell of War.
Review: War is hell. Reprinted by Feral House Press, _War is a Racket_ is an antiwar rant by "America's Most Decorated Soldier", Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler. In fact, this brief book, includes several essays, including an introductory piece by Adam Parfrey, _War is a Racket_, two essays dealing with the First and Second World Wars and arguing for isolationism, and a series of gruesome photos of war time tragedies from the antiwar book _The Horror of It_. _War is a Racket_ offers some interesting insights into the individuals and businesses behind warfare, who make profits off the bodies of dead soldiers. However, at times the book veers off into near communistic insanity in its hatred for corporate capitalism and its insistence that all men should earn the same wage regardless of profession during wartime. In fact, wars have often been provoked with little or no justification, often at the whims of bankers and transnational elites, and wars are often poorly conducted so as not to serve the best interests of America and the American soldier. However, war itself is a necessary fact of life in the world of nations. The idea that war can be totally eliminated through some international means of collaboration is not only absurd, but all the more likely to foster the world's biggest totalitarian system yet devised. In fact, to suggest that war be eliminated is tantamount to suggesting that one tolerate the intolerable. However, this is not really General Butler's position. Instead, Butler argues that war itself cannot be eliminated but that the United States should not become entangled in events which are not of its concern and thus try to maintain neutrality at all costs. For instance, if the United States were to be invaded by foreign occupiers, then of course war would become necessary. Also, if a given nation poses a direct threat to the well being of the citizens of the U.S., then war is inevitable provided that that nation cannot be quelled through diplomacy. However, to fight a war for purely economic interests of profit, thereby risking the lives of countless young men merely to increase the profits of corporate interests, is entirely immoral. The real question then becomes how can one know when the interests of America are really being put first. In recent times, many have started to question the tactics of President George W. Bush's "War on Terror" initiative and invasion of Iraq, post-9/11, on precisely the same grounds that individuals like Smedley had questioned the First and Second World Wars. Whether America's true interests are being put first remains to be seen. The book concludes with some ghastly photos of wartime attrocities, including pictures of young men badly disfigured (one picture shows a man with half his face missing, both upper jaw and nose being completely removed). Such is the price of maintaining American sovereignity and imperial power. Or, as Smedley would cynically observe, such is the price we pay for domination by corporate elites. Also of interest: _Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace_, a collection of "isolationist" essays edited by Harry Elmer Barnes and revealing the hidden agenda behind United States entry into World War II. Currently available from the Institute for Historical Review.
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