War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.

One hundred and twenty Marines were detailed to officer a force of twenty-six hundred Haitians.

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.

It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country...but the profits...skyrocket.

I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General.

War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of 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 masses.

War like any other racket, pays high dividends to the very few. The cost of operations is always transferred to the people who do not profit.