"War Is a Racket" is a famous 1935 anti-war pamphlet by Major General Smedley D. Butler, a highly decorated retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and two-time Medal of Honor recipient.

Source:en.wikipedia.org

At the time of its publication, Butler was one of the most decorated soldiers in American history. He had served in numerous conflicts, including the Boxer Rebellion in China, interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean (e.g., Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, Dominican Republic), and World War I. After retiring in 1931, he became a vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy, arguing that many military actions he participated in were driven by corporate and financial interests rather than national defense or democratic ideals.

Butler bluntly declares:
"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." Source: heritage-history.com

Major General Butler defines a "racket" as something that appears one way to the public (patriotic duty, national security) but is actually conducted for the benefit of a small insider group (bankers, industrialists, munitions makers) at the expense of the masses (soldiers who fight and die, taxpayers who pay the bills, and future generations burdened by debt).

Now we hear the same from a modern day General, Gen. Mike Flynn.
"War is a massive racket. We are at war constantly Peace is the aberration and war is the norm."
https://x.com/GenFlynn/status/2045479365031387

As an anti-war United States veteran with 8 years of military service - I agree with the views of Generals Butler and Flynn.

What about you.
Do you love US wars? Do you feel that the US has a place in the world as "Team American - World Police?" Explain why?
or
Are you anti-war? Explain why?

America has the right and duty to defend its borders and territories from foreign invasion - from inside our borders. NOT by sending troops thousands of miles away from the United States to project power into every nook and cranny that does not belong to the United States. If America was invaded by a foreign power, hell, I'd go back home to join the militia. But I DO NOT support foreign adventurism which has been the norm for the 74 years that I've been alive.

“Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”
-John Quincy Adams

Unfortunately, the United States has been at war for 200 years out of the 250 years that the American Republic has been in existence, and virtually all of those battles were on foreign soil as the US goes abroad in search of monsters to destroy. It is just wrong!

What about "Special Military Operations"? Are they a racket, too?

3 minutes ago, Alan Zweibel said:

What about "Special Military Operations"? Are they a racket, too?

The US hasn't fought a declared "war" since WW2. Every one of those military actions - whether called a police action or special military operation - is a war
Semantics is Bravo-Sierra. 🐂💩

12 minutes ago, connda said:

The US hasn't fought a declared "war" since WW2. Every one of those military actions - whether called a police action or special military operation - is a war
Semantics is Bravo-Sierra. 🐂💩

I'm not aware that it's the US declaring the current hostilities in the Middle East, a "Special Military Operation" I can think of another country that is indisputably engaged in a war characterizing it as a "Special Military Operation". Is it a racket for them, too?

1 minute ago, Alan Zweibel said:

I'm not aware that it's the US declaring the current hostilities in the Middle East, a "Special Military Operation" I can think of another country that is indisputably engaged in a war characterizing it as a "Special Military Operation". Is it a racket for them, too?

This isn't about Russia. If there are Russian Expats who are anti-war, they can start their own poll and discussion about war as it applies to Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

The poll and the topic is "Do you support the United States' 'Forever Wars?'"

I changed the topic title as it was my intention for this to be exclusively about US Foreign Policy and US "wars."

Thanks for catching that!