I've noticed that with the relentless waging of war by America has come a growing trend to make of our wars "holy wars" and of our fallen soldiers "hero saints" whose spilt blood sanctifies the fields on which it flowed. In my mind this borders on idolatry and is false.
American leaders have now made wars to impose democracy as Biblically correct. It is The Most High's desire. To impose democracy and freedom upon all the people of the world is a sacred duty consistent with the obligation to "repair the world." It amounts to bringing the blessings of Heaven upon Earth.
My understanding of Heaven is that it isn't a democracy. Of course, what do I know?
The elite leadership of America believes in "repairing the world." The Pentagon is gung-ho to annihilate the impaired shards of creation so that the world will become progressively "better."
Since Christianity is itself an impaired shard from the point of view of these elite thinkers, you will excuse this Christian's "count me out" attitude. Perhaps that was the wrong terminology to use, given the annihilation scenario.
Focusing once more on my primary thrust in this blog, I must say that the U.S. fighting men have never been saintly. In fact they are sometimes barbarous. They may look spiffy in new and/or clean dress uniforms, but when the life and death moments arrive, they must act like savage beasts - not saints. The media would have interested Americans believe that we are sending out our best and brightest versions of Saint Francis of Assisi. Therefore, their loss is ever more painful and their blood - if not holy - is at least saintly. The image isn't accurate. The non-American world press is more likely to "tell it like it is."
To learn more about the truth of soldiers perhaps we should turn to examples of the opinions of the West's greatest soldiers that are separated by a significant period of time. Consider the famed Duke of Wellington who led England's forces against Napoleon and others.
"He took a low view of the moral character of his armies. At various times he found his forces as a whole 'infamous,' 'a rabble.' The men were 'the scum of the earth,' a phrase he repeated many times. 'None but the worst description of men enter the regular service.' Or again: 'People talk of their enlisting from their fine military feeling - all stuff - no such thing. Some of our men enlist from having got bastard children - some for minor offences - many more for drink.' The non-commissioned officers were the only group to escape criticism, and even they got disgustingly drunk on the night of a victory. The officers were brave, but could not be got to pay 'minute and constant attention to orders.' The commissariat was 'very bad indeed.' The cavalry were useless: They charged head on, then 'gallop back as fast as they gallop on the enemy'; they 'never think of maneuvring,' indeed cannot maneuver, 'except on Wimbledon Common.' The generals 'make me tremble.' The infantry, when properly trained, were all right, but even they had to be 'ruled with a rod of iron.' On the other hand, no one grudged spending his armies more than did the Duke. He wept bitterly when his officers were killed and valued the lives of his soldiers more than did any other contemporary commander, attributing his compassion to the British constitution...." [Paul Johnson, THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN, page 65]
As during the days of Wellington, many American generals and admirals rose to their positions due to political assistance. Being connected to influential people was and is the fastest route. Given the reality of ultimate power in this country (excluding the sword itself), there can be no surprise that their work tends to support, expand and enrich our Levantine "friends." Be that as it may, let us fast forward to hear from America's most decorated Marine General, Smedley D. Butler.
"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.
"In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows."
Parenthetically, Eugene Meyer, the grandfather of Donald Graham, CEO of the Washington Post Company, was accused of duplicating U.S. Treasury bonds ("one for Uncle Sam, one for me, one for Uncle Sam, one for me," etc). He was brought before Congress to explain the apparent duplications. He denied involvement, but was suspected ever after of being a great thief, getting away with about 100 million dollars. Bernard Baruch, who worked with Eugene Meyer at one of the special war offices, was said to have entered service with the Wilson Administration possessing a net worth of some 18 million dollars and exiting with over 200 million dollars.
As General Butler stated, war is profitable for a few well-placed and connected speculators. But let's hear more from the General Smedley Butler's article.
"Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few - the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.
"And what is this bill?
"This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.
"For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out....
"Yes, all over, nations are camping in their arms. The mad dogs of Europe are on the loose. In the Orient the maneuvering is more adroit. Back in 1904, when Russia and Japan fought, we kicked out our old friends the Russians and backed Japan. Then our very generous international bankers were financing Japan. Now the trend is to poison us against the Japanese....
"Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken out of the fields and offices and factories and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded; they were made over; they were made to 'about face'; to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder and, through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used them for a couple of years and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed....
"Napoleon once said: 'All men are enamored of decorations...they positively hunger for them.'
"So by developing the Napoleonic system - the medal business - the government learned it could get soldiers for less money, because the boys liked to be decorated. Until the Civil War there were no medals. Then the Congressional Medal of Honor was handed out. It made enlistment easier. After the Civil War no new medals were issued until the Spanish-American War.
"Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month....Half of that wage (just a little more than a riveter in a shipyard or a laborer in a munitions factory safe at home made in a day) was promptly taken from him to support his dependents, so that they would not become a charge upon his community. Then we made him pay what amounted to accident insurance - something the employer pays for in an enlightened state - and that cost him $6 a month. He had less than $9 a month left.
"Then, the most crowning insolence of all - he was virtually blackjacked into paying for his own ammunition, clothing, and food by being made to buy Liberty Bonds. Most soldiers got no money at all on pay days.
"We made them buy Liberty Bonds at $100 and then we bought them back - when they came back from the war and couldn't find work - at $84 and $86. And the soldiers bought about $2,000,000,000 worth of these bonds!...
"Well, it's a racket, all right." [from Smedley Butler, 1933 article "War Is A Racket" reprinted by The Barnes Review, July/August 2003 issue, pages 33-39]
I don't think that the military-industrial-banker complex has changed much since General Butler put his knowledge and experience to print in protest against their racket. The enlisted men are overly praised and criminally underpaid. The generals and admirals agree to do the "break-leg" work for the banking loan-sharks, which is first filtered through congress to make it all official. The few get incredibly richer with each war, and the people burdened with accruing and crushing debt.
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