Latin American Report

 
Quote

  "War is a racket. Our stake in that racket has never been greater in all our peacetime history. It may seem odd for me, a military man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent 33 years and four months in active service as a member of our country's most agile military force - the Marine Corps...

  "I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras "right" for American fruit companies in 1903...

  "Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents."

Marine Corps Major General Smedley D. Butler.
Twice wounded in action and twenty times decorated,
Smedley Butler was also one of the few Americans
to be twice awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honour.