Ohmisterporter Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 For the history/defence fans here is something that I had forgotten about until recently coming across it again. Smedley Butler was a Major General in the US Marine Corps and had a long and distinguished record. During the 1930s he made these comments about what he felt his service had achieved and the reasons for some of the actions taken by his country. If you have never heard of these Butler comments before I hope you find them of interest. http://fas.org/man/smedley.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I give in to temptation. Well, duh! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted September 16, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2016 I wonder how many of our Major Generals would dare say the same? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmay2002 Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 My immediate reaction is that somebody advocating fighting wars in their own country rather than in someone else's is several sandwiches short of a picnic whatever reasons you are fighting it for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted September 16, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 16, 2016 You wouldn't even have the basket if you were planning to invade the US.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 You wouldn't even have the basket if you were planning to invade the US.... To be quit honest I have has similar thoughts but for other reasons. Had we not gone to war in Afghanistan and spent the money on stopping drug and human trafficking, I have often thought our country would be much safe. Yes we need an army to defend ourselves, including the ability to defend ourselves from cyber attacks, No to travelling half way across the world to fight others wars Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted September 17, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 17, 2016 Smedley Butler is (was) often name checked by writers like Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky to support their arguments about American imperialism etc. He was certainly a brave man and a good soldier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted September 17, 2016 Author Share Posted September 17, 2016 Smedley Butler is (was) often name checked by writers like Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky to support their arguments about American imperialism etc. He was certainly a brave man and a good soldier. He was a good MARINE, don't let them hear you mixing them up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Like it or no, having accidentally turned the world into a village it does need policing, and sometimes arrest and lock up isn't enough. There are worse things to go to war over than a system that has afforded more ordinary people a decent shake in life than anything previously known. Definitely not perfect, not even approaching the ideal, frequently clumsy and misdirected, but probably the least worst option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Whilst a village might need a policeman that individual shouldn't be self appointed but selected on merit. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Butler was also the leader to be installed after a proposed coup against President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933/4. He refused to go along with this, and made the plot public. How serious/practical the plot was is not clear. There is quite a bit of information available online about the plot. Most is written from definite points of view. Wikipedia is probably (IMO) the most neutral - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Whilst a village might need a policeman that individual shouldn't be self appointed but selected on merit. It is a good theory, the difficulty lies in implementation. The best acheved to date is the UN peacekeeping role. But the UN in this respect is headed up by a self appointed security council... Until an external unbiased arbitrator arrives, that's about the best possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted September 18, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 18, 2016 Whilst a village might need a policeman that individual shouldn't be self appointed but selected on merit. steve Unfortunately one man's merit is another man's demerit Subjective to say the least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.