A salute to a few veterans of the United States military services

[JackRiddler]

SMEDLEY BUTLER
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After retiring from service as the most highly decorated Marine in all US history until his time, Smedley Butler wrote "War is a Racket." In this short and simple book, he announced that the many wars he had served in were, in fact, planned and fought for profiteers. He said he had never had an original thought of his own until the day he finally left the military. Despite this straight talk, Butler remained a hero to the masses, which shows that a lot of "We the People" have brains after all.

In 1934, Butler exposed a plot by super-rich fascists (including Irenee DuPont and Prescott Bush) to overthrow the elected government of the United States and install a Fuehrer. Now that's a hero who served his nation.

I'll take Smedley Butler over Gens. Patton, MacArthur and Eisenhower. In the same era, in 1931, they chose to follow President Hoover's illegal orders to use tanks in smashing the peaceful protests of the "BONUS ARMY" of impoverished World War I veterans. They had gathered in Washington DC to demand the bonuses checks they had been promised. Thus did these famous generals advance their careers, on their way to becoming the highest-ranking men in US uniform.

Many other soldiers came to an uncharitable conclusion about the function of the US military, thanks to their own direct and painful experience. On the whole, I am more convinced by Vietnam veterans like RON KOVIC, who lost the use of his legs in Vietnam and today fights to shut down military recruitment efforts, than I am by the speeches of those who would exclude consideration of the foreign victims from their memorializations. I salute as well all the soldiers in the documentary on military resistance in Vietnam "Sir, No Sir!":

"SIR, NO SIR!"
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I also salute a soldier like TOM GLEN, who bucked orders to stay silent and chose to expose US military atrocities that he had witnessed in Vietnam. Compare him to a certain PR officer at the same time, a fellow named Colin Powell: he followed his orders from on high, and suppressed Glen's revelations. Thus Powell kept making his way up the ladder. Clearly, an honest and courageous man like Glen should have ended up in charge of a smaller and more humane military, instead of Colin Powell.

On this day I honor as well SCOTT RITTER, who completely exposed the lies of the Bush regime about WMDs in Iraq prior to its invasion and aggressive war on the Iraqi people. He too paid a price in calumny and slander, but he has his honor and his wits intact.

These are a few of the brave men and women who, contrary to the blind obedience too many still espouse as a virtue, gave of themselves so that we still have a semblance of democracy, despite the continuing dominance of militarism, so that unthinking nationalists also have the right to speak freely, if it ever occurs to them. Have a happy holiday.