Home > What we should remember on this Memorial Day
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“Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (in 2008 on May 26). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military action.”
How unfortunate that we have a need for such a day, especially since “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.” So stated Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.
Today, and every day, we should remember why we have sent our children to die, and to kill. We should remember that war is meant to consolidate assets for the oligarchy. We should also remember that the majority of casualties of every War have been civilians. That not only soldiers, but countless innocents have been caught between warring corporations in their attempts to increase the wealth of the privileged few.
Major General Butler summarizes war in his book WAR IS A RACKET in the following way:
* In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.
* How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?
* 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.
* And what is this bill?
* This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.
The above book should be mandatory reading and part of every curriculum, in every school, in every country around the world.
Today we should remember that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in over 1.2 million civilian deaths as well as creating over 4 million refugees.
We should remember that 2007 was the bloodiest year for US forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq. As for 2008, we should anticipate the casualties for this year to surpass those of previous years now that Sistani has issued Fatwas against US troops in Iraq.
We should remember our recent history and the legacy of war, maybe then we can prevent it from repeating itself. The following websites contain images that will be a part of our history for future generations to come:
- Hiroshima, the pictures they didn’t want us to see and why
- Photo journal of a German soldier on the Eastern Front
- The Iraq War as a Trophy Photo
- "War against Terrorism" in Afghanistan
- A Vietnam Photo Essay
- The War to End All Wars: World War I
And with all wars there is genocide, so we must also remember the end result of war:
- The Canadian Genocide of Aboriginal Peoples
- Native American Genocide in the United States
- Armenian Genocide
- Rwandan Genocide
- Genocide in progress: Darfur
The above is just a sample of our deeds and why it is important to have a ‘Memorial Day’. But today should not be just about our children that we have turned into killers, it should also be about the innocent civilian victims created due to our ignorance as to the true cause and cost of war. We have sacrificed millions so that we can remain apathetic.
We should remember that war is neither about honor, duty, justice or peace. War is about money, greed, power, and death and destruction. It is about sacrificing our children to propagate fear.
We should also remember that we have the power to stop Preemptive Wars of Aggression that are being waged in our name and with our children’s innocence and blood, if we so choose to.
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