Some Historical perspective on the war

[Fight_n_back]

A war against insurgents that is often compared to Vietnam? A Republican President seen as a craven puppet of corporate interests? A powerful media mogul fueling the "need" for war with yellow journalism?

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/9782/

After the Spanish American war we had to fight the insurgents in the Phillipines for three years. The Phillipines remained an American Territoty for another 42 years after the war.

Guess what, we still have troops there.

This was a bit chilling to read:
'Resistance survived on the island of Samar, where the most famous incident of the war, the Balangiga Massacre, occurred on September 26, 1901. This surprise attack, masterminded by Filipino General Vincente Lukban, was half successful, though more Filipinos died in the fighting than Americans. This “massacre” enraged American troops, who then initiated a policy of “kill and burn,” under the leadership of Gen. Jacob Smith. In October, the nearby island of Cebu surrendered to American troops, and was followed by Bohol in December. But some of the events in the Philippines were starting to draw public attention, and in January of 1902, a Senate committee was formed to investigate the war. In February, Lukban was captured, and resistance on Samar ended soon after.

Meanwhile, the war was winding to a close in Luzon, where Gen. Franklin Bell had set up the infamous “zones” under orders from Chaffee. The entire civilian population was herded into select cities which served as prison camps, and everything outside the zones was systematically destroyed. On April 16, 1902, Malvar surrendered to the American forces. On July 4, 1902, President Roosevelt issued the official Peace Proclamation ending the war and granting pardon to the insurrectos.

The Philippine-American war was over, but the story of the Philippines was not. Even as the war was ending, American commanders Waller and Smith, among others, were put on trial for war crimes. In the southern islands of Mindanao and Jolo, American troops continued to fight the Moros for another eleven years. The northern islands were slowly Americanized, gaining schools, roads, sanitation, and an American-based government system. After World War II, on July 4, 1946, the Philippines were finally granted independence.

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After the war with MOST of the Phillipines, the war against the MUSLIMS of the Phillipines continued for another 5-10 years. There were war crimes trials and the whole thing basically sucked.


Its why it is good to have a President that can read.

Are we wiloing to be in Iraq for anonther fifty years? Well, we probably are gonna be so get used to it.

[Igel]

1. The bases were all closed in 1992, following a vote of the

Philippine legislature in 1991 not to extend the lease on the bases. The US and Philippines signed an agreement in 1998, I think it was, re-establishing military ties under certain conditions. We don't still have troops there, we have troops there again.

The period the Philippines was a US protectorate also includes the time under Japanese occupation, and a little of the rebuilding afterwards. I'm not aware of an active Philippine independence movement in 1945, when the Philippines were independent enough to help found the UN (if the Wikipedia isn't all wet), or in 1946 when--with strings--they became independent.

Meanwhile, the Islamic insurgencies of various types continue, with or without the US presence. They were squashed for a while, but came back with a vengeance.

When the Iraqi government and army collapsed and the insurgency-style fighting began, the example that some conservatives turned to for a victory over an insurgency was the Philippines.

[Fight_n_back]

2. It is our second front in the war on terror

http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/04/16/phil.blair/?related


The head of the U.S. forces in the Pacific this week visited American troops in the southern Philippines -- currently the single largest overseas deployment of U.S. troops since Afghanistan.