General Douglas MacArthurGeneral Douglas MacArthur, (1880-1964) WWII Supreme Allied Commander of the Southwest Pacific, Supreme United Nations Commander

General Douglas MacArthur Quote

“Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -­ kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervour -­ with the cry of grave national emergency. Always, there has been some terrible evil at home, or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.”

General Douglas MacArthurGeneral Douglas MacArthur
~ General Douglas MacArthur

Whan, ed. "A Soldier Speaks: Public Papers and Speeches of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur," (1965); Nation, August 17, 1957

Ratings and Comments


Logan, Memphis, TN

And so it continues - HEIL BUSH!!

Jack, Green, OH

General MacArthur's words are probably more true today than when he spoke them almost 50 years ago

Frank, North Canton, OH

MacArthur is right on the money with this quote back in the 1950s and in the first decade of the 21st century

Robert, Sarasota

Hadrian couldn't of said it better...

Don Cramer, Port Angeles

Wow! A wakeup call from inside the military- industrial- administration complex. Thank you General!

David L. Rosenthal, Hollywood

Although I also agree that these words are true, it is also true that the growing alliance of terrorist states and terrorist organizations in Latin America and the Middle East is not a fabrication of our government, but a dangerous reality that all our reason and rhetoric cannot solve. When Moslems can riot and kill over a cartoon, or over any other pretext, and Castro and Chavez become closely allied with Iran, which will drop its first atomic weapon on Israel (and the rest on the United States), Washington is not the reason or the cause.

Joe, Rochester, MI

If terrorist alliances are gathering to "gobble us up", it is primarily because our government has given them a reason to hate us.

eddie, sancarlos

A true, accurate assessment from inside the room that we most of us can not enter...

Joe Schmuckatelli, Nowhere

Just as true today as it was back when the General said it back in the 1950's.

zzoaozz, Greeneville Tennessee

And so long as the sheep mindlessly believe every word spoon fed to them from elementary school on up, not a thing will change.

Mark, Cleveland

What was the audience and pretext of this quote? I'd like to put in context.

J Carlton, Calgary

Our government has garnered the animosity of the world by manipulating foreign governments and policies to it's own profit. By supporting foreign dictatorships "friendly" to US interests. Oddly the general population of those countries do not appreciate it. Mac was right then and now.

A.Jurgensen, Stuart, FL

If Douglas MacArthur had ever been elected president I have no doubt he'd have done exactly what he ranted about in this commentary of his. It's how the military mind works, doncha know?

Waffler, Smith

The government simply told us the truth. Was not 1776, 1812, 1861, WWi, and WWII and Korea, and Afghan-Taliban-Al Qaeda, emergencies. McCarthur sounds like Bush during Katrina, the waht-me-worry kid. Okay 'Nam was a blunder caused by make believe fear of communism. We still have make believe fear mongers but it ain't the government. The government and that is us need to wake up to the emergency of the porous borders.

jim k, Austin,Tx

As to the quote, that's what governments do. Ever notice how many "wars" we have. Wars on cancer, obesity, drugs, and a host of others. By pushing this phony and unwinnable "war on drugs" the police now have the power under the Asset Forfeiture Laws to steal your property without even charging you with a crime. If you think I'm wrong, check out LEAP.cc on the web.

cal, lewisville, tx

I fear my own government more than any foreign power.

David Ben-Ariel, Toledo, Ohio

Isn't that the plain truth? Which is why I've signed the petition to "Bring Our Troops Home"

RBESRQ
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RBESRQ    6/4/10

In those days Generals were Generals today they are tools of the elite - what do you mean Waffler "it's not the government" are you blind? there is no government that is responsible to the people, that stopped decades ago. today our government represents the military industrial complex and wall street. So, yes, MacArthur is spot on.

Mike, Norwalk

Now, Americans even fear hope and change (with very good reason).

Judith, New Mexico

I agree, I fear our own governments, federal, state and city, more than any entity in the world. We have more nuclear weapons than all the other countries combined. Other countries don't need nuclear weapons as long as they know where to drop their bombs, on our nuclear bunkers. We have made so many enemies because of our terrorism on other countries it is no wonder they want to kill us. As for 9-11, I believe it was an inside job, and sure an advantage for Israel. Who had access to incendiary bombs that imploded the buildings? Not the Muslims blamed. How do you find a passport intact on the grounds when everything else is dust? The empty prisons built around the country, many on closed military bases, with rail road tracks coming to the entrances, turnstiles inside the door, and barbed wire surrounding the buildings, gas supplied room, gives me chills and I wonder who they plan to put in there. Remembering the drills when I was a child in the hallways of the schools when we tucked our head inside our folded arms, and considering the dangers now, yes there are real reasons to worry now. What will happen when the sleeping populace wakes up?

Carol, Georgia

Okay, Judith. How about some references to the claims you make about prisons "being built on closed military bases,with barbed wire and GAS SUPPLIED ROOMS." That is quite a statement. I'm not saying I don't believe you...in this day and age anything is possible. However, that sort of comment MUST be verifiable. I too, remember the drills as a child. I remember all lights out at night and peering around a curtain to see if it was completely dark and hearing the air raid sirens. I remember my father leaving the house with a black band on his upper arm denoting the Civil Defense unit patrolling the neighborhoods. I agree our times are extremely dangerous from without and within. However, I don't believe that 9/11 was an inside job. If it was an "inside job" as you say, then why did 19 terrorists fly planes into the towers, the Pentagon and an attempt at the Capitol or White House, ending in a rural field in PA? And why would OBL sit in his cave in the wilds of Afghanistan and be proud of his accomplishment in the attack? I do believe there is fear mongering especially by this administration. They have no compunctions about saying "no good crisis should go to waste." If any administration is guilty of the scenario described by General MacArthur some 50 years ago, it is the one under which we suffer now.

Mike, Norwalk

Carol, proof is good. Where is the proof that 19 terrorists flew the planes in question into anything? No plane wreckage was ever found near the Pentagon and the hole made was only the size of a missile. If it was a plane that hit the Pentagon, why didn't the wings, side or tail, of the plane hit the building also? How did the plane shrink to the size of the hole just before impact? Where are the engines? The physicist Steven Jones, along with other independent scientists, found micro thermite ((<-sp?) a high tech explosive only had by US Military) was present through all pieces of dust and everything tested from the 2 towers. Carol, try explaining building # 7 without saying, wow that was the first and only time anything like that has ever happened, as it is averse to science but, it happened just like the government said it did. Why was the molten steel still burning and melting a week later, even after the rain (jet fuel won't do that)? How about those first pictures of the rural field in PA? There was no scorched earth or gouge in the ground. Only after the military was in there with earth moving equipment did the later pictures get released (it was originally reported by the military that the plane must have disintegrated on impact - hmmm, when has that ever happened before? / if there was a plane, wheres the proof). Carol, do you know OBL and what he's proud of. The only pictures I've ever seen of OBL, that were verified as him, has him disclaiming anything to do with 9/11. I could go on and on but all we really know for sure is that the government lied, start to finish, about what happened on 9/11. With NORAD standing down for the first time since its inception, along with every thing else that can be absolutely proved, it sure looks like an inside job - it just hasn't been proven yet.

E Archer, NYC

I do believe from a Constitutional stand-point, the USA is officially under a state of emergency at all times and has been so since 1934. Thus in such times, the Executive may assume extra-ordinary measures for the 'defense' of the nation. Technically, any president can be excused for his actions under a state of emergency -- we already have seen that we cannot impeach and punish a president even an ex-president -- look at Nixon and Clinton, and Clinton WAS impeached! We the People have little recourse other than to ignore these tyrants altogether and start learning what it means to be part of an American community based on the principles of liberty and responsibility. Wards of the state need not include everyone, does it?

Judith, New Mexico

http://dhi.health.state.nm.us/ http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/FEMA-Concentr
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/camps.htm
Carol, These are a few sites I found using Google. I did get a video once of someone who was video taping as much as they could get to without getting into trouble. It seems that much has been taken off the internet. Not surprising. I will send you more if you want. I do believe this, and there have been drills in a few cities in rounding up people to cart them away by the military a year or so ago. I try to save a lot but then I have to find it which is not always easy, plus had a crash a few months ago and lost some stuff. Mike did a good job answering your questions too about 911. There at at least two Muslims who were supposedly in the planes that crashed into the twin towers but they are alive in their home country. Lots of web sites about that. You can look in the library of http://www.brasschecktv.com They may have some short videos on these issues, camps included.

Judith, New Mexico

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3943.htm
Check this out. Been afraid I would lose it as lots of things do come up unavailable. If our President at that time would give foreign aid to this dictatorship who tortures people to this point, and has sent some of our prisoners to this prison, how do you think they were treated. A bit off topic and maybe no one will see this.

Judith, New Mexico

Here is a copy of an article about the Executive Order by Bush that threatened those who opposed his (illegal) war that he lied about to initiate his "Shock and Awe".
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6377

Judith, New Mexico

Another about "the powerful people" who would like to condition your mind with fear in order to control you, as did Hitler.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/66505

Waffler, Smith

Judith has apparently come to her conclusion that these prisons and things exist and the fact she cannot find really conclusive information about them is proof positive that they are being hidden from her and us. Judith you are a warped logical journey. Welcome to the world of Mike from Norwalk. Oh! I notice a reason for your illogical reasoning, maybe you live near Roswell, isn't that where all the aliens come from. Robert I said "it is not the governent" I said we are the government. The people in Washington change every two, four, or six years depending upon the elected office. The thing that never changes is that it always us the American people who inhabit those offices. So we should quit blaming a non-existant entity liek "the government" and start blaming ourselves or on the other hand taking credit for things we do good and right. Robert what do you mean by elites, I met a man recently who said an elite is anyone with a college degree.

Judith, New Mexico

http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1062 Not sure if you are still looking for the information Waffler. Left another site on another quote today 9/8 so you can read for yourself. Don't get what you mean by calling me a warped logical journey? What think tank do you subscribe to? You spout oh so trusting philosophy one minute and the opposite the next?

Allen, DC

MacArthur was a great man.
Read: The Report from Iron Mountain.

Ronw13, Yachats Or

The mindset of rational thought, from a Soldier who would " tell it like it is ", context is self evident, knowing intervention in the private affairs, of other nations, to be avoided, but perpetuated by the carelessness of weak minds and bleeding hearts, in leadership. Unjust policy for the sake of expanding personal motives. This usually and should always be Checked within the ranks of militarily disciplined authority. Responsibility for another's life, realized and observed ! Some in conversation, never knowing there is a round room to be avoided !

jim k, Austin

10 stars today.

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