A US Major General Smedley Butler who served from 1898 to 1931 and saw action all over the world has said in his book “WAR IS A RACKET” published in mid 1930s that; “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…” In the last one century over 85 million were killed in different wars and many more then that were wounded. If we dig out the facts some very horrible and strange things come out that the most of the wars were created for to earn money by war profiteers.
If we go through the war history we find that in WWI when whole world fighting for their survival and defence at that crucial time at least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States .who are they? They are the war profiteers, the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. In World War One 15 millions died and 20 million were wounded. In Second World War over sixty million were killed. After WWII, era of cold war started during that in Korean War 2.5 million were killed. In Vietnam War over three million were murdered. After few years Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and killed over a million and 4 to 5 million were displaced from their home land. In Iraq-Iran war 500 thousands to one million people were killed on the both side. In Iraq invasion over a million civilian were slaughtered by US and their allied forces. In Afghanistan hundreds of thousands were killed and the death toll is keep rising. In the last sixth years according to stop war organization US wars have killed 10 million people and many more then that were injured.
If we see deeply why these wars happened some very crucial facts come out. In the WWI, participating countries were losing lives of people and their economy was also being busted but on the other side US was enjoying the war with full benefits. The GDP and gold reserves of US increased to double during the war. If we look on data we find that after gaining massive profit from WWI the war profiteers were planning and investing for new war. Before the WWII many US companies invested in Germany and support Hitler Army. In 1974 a report printed by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary stated that; “During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the Big Three automakers undertook an extensive program of multinational expansion…By the mid-1930’s, these three American companies owned automotive subsidiaries throughout Europe and the Far East; many of their largest facilities were located in the politically sensitive nations of Germany, Poland, Rumania, Austria, Hungary, Latvia, and Japan…Due to their concentrated economic power over motor vehicle production in both Allied and Axis territories, the Big Three inevitably became major factors in the preparations and progress of the war.
In Germany, for example, General Motors and Ford became an integral part of the Nazi war efforts. GM’s plants in Germany built thousands of bomber and jet fighter propulsion systems for the Luftwaffe at the same time that its American plants produced aircraft engines for the U.S. Army Air Corps….” After a long struggle for creating war by profiteers finally succeeded and they got enormous profit again in the price of over sixty million deaths. In this time US economy boosted again as in WWI.US gold reserves increased US $12390 million to US$24399 millions after WWII. In cold war era US jumped into Korean war and then Vietnam war in the result millions were killed and wounded. The cold war era also took the life of over a million of Afghans. A decade long war was won by Afghan people with the support of western powers. In the result cold war era was ended with the dismantling of Soviet Union.
The war profiteers are always trying to create problems in between states and converts it into war and then fuel the war by every mean as we have seen in Iran-Iraq war. Profiteers don’t care about the suffering of human. They just care about their profit. After the gulf war, close to a million children were killed because of the US embargo after the war and the bombing of Iraq’s water and sewer systems. After 9/11 (which is still one of the most controversial incidence) the new era of war started so called “ War on terror”. Under the umbrella of war on terror US invaded Afghanistan and killed hundreds of thousands people and millions of human were affected by US action. In 2003 US invaded Iraq and slaughtered over a million civilian without any justification. The war made five million orphaned and over 750,000 widows.
Everyone needs to know that why Iraq was invaded` when it was made crystal clear that Saddam Hussain did not hold the weapons of mass destruction. His infrastructure for making nuclear bomb, chemical & biological weapons was eliminated. A country deprived of her major source of earnings. The sale of oil and economy in shambles whose children for lack of food and ill without medicine were perishing by hundreds every day how could be a threat to the only super power on earth. This was the lust for Iraqi oil and the contracts for the reconstruction after which was driving the oil companies and the contractors mad.
These organizations after all do not spend billions of dollars for nothing during the presidential election campaigns this factor has correctly been pointed out by Vidal Gore. “Of course for: some years, it has been no secret that corporate America openly & generally pays for our presidential elections.” (Bush – Gore in 2000 cost them $ 3 billion) Dreaming War – Blood for oil and the Cheney – Bush Junta. The fact is that it was oil in Iraq which was watering the mouth of American investors and the contractors of reconstruction. Similar is the case of Afghanistan which is the door way to central Asia rich in oil reserve and mineral resources, and the building contracts of billions of dollars for the construction companies of the US for rebuilding of ruined Afghanistan.
The media which is also to a very large extending owned by the same money classes plays a vital role. The news are manipulated, anchor persons cry host and raise such a hue and cry that these wars motivated by most greedy, selfish motives and the ends callous to human suffering & misery wrought by them are presented as crusades to rope in the unsuspecting lay man in order to obtain public support for the nefarious purposes. According to Karle Shapiro a US poet; “Every war has its own excuse. That’s why they’re all surrounded with ideals. That’s why they’re all crusades.”
All these wars are financed through the tax payer’s money to let sorts, function and filling the pockets of their owners. To extract money from the tax payer for the wars of the corporate America myths are created. The Profiteers are working on their new possible targets? Africa (Libya)? Syria? Iran? Or a Nuclear State Pakistan?
If the vicious circle of the war is keep spinning what would be the future of the world?
(Majid Khan is an experienced TV journalist and has a Masters in documentary production from the United Kingdom)
