Looking back to look forward

strange how history repeats....

History has many lessons...
The similarities of the past and present fascinate me- In Iraq where the current US counter insurgency fight is ongoing... If one were to look at it from the historical context of the Philippine insurrection - or - Philippine-American War one sees so many similar situations.



The first is troop straight - and years of fighting - according to an article in prologue the magazine of the US National Archives...

Where these photo's are found by the way...
all in the public domain....


" Approximately 125,000 troops served in the Philippines during the war. After more than three years of fighting, at a cost of 400 million dollars and approximately 4,200 American dead and 2,900 wounded, President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed an end to the insurrection in the Philippines on July 4, 1902."

The numbers are nearly the same as Iraq - when one takes into consideration - "volunteers" and Philippine scouts units also used by the US military in the conflict. Casualties were about
4,200 killed although the injured or wounded figure covered those who per records were "maimed or disfigured" also all figures were only the
US forces - insurgent figures were much higher and civilian deaths and injuries now covered by the infamous "collateral damage" term were not mentioned.

Beginning in July 2004, the United States began implementing the OIF 3 troop rotation. OIF-3 plans call for troops numbers to be reduced from 140,000 to roughly 130,000. The rotation was slated to take place until March 2005." Reports globalsecurity.org in its order of battle figures for US troop straight.

More on the reports of tactics used are strikingly similar:


Iraq; "sweeps, conducted in June and July 2003, rounded up hundreds of Iraqis, they angered residents who complained of mistreating, arbitrary arrests and humiliation at the hands of US soldiers." Globalsecurity.org - operations Iraq.


Philippine American War; " wanton violence and slaughter. Villages were destroyed, civilians murdered, prisoners tortured and mutilated along with a host of other atrocities. Many American officers and non-coms had served in the Indian Wars, and thus applied the old belief that "the only good Indian was a dead Indian" to their relations with the Filipinos. This attitude of course was reciprocated by the native forces." - The history guy website...

The conflict however went far beyond the "End of hostilities declaration of president Teddy Roosevelt in 1902 - sounds like the Mission Accomplished statement in 2002! Stranger yet contingencies occur- but here was the scope and length of the conflict

look at the time frame covered by the US Military website listing the official duration of the conflict.

NAMED CAMPAIGNS - PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION

Streamers: Blue with two red stripes

Manila	4 February-17 March 1899
Iloilo	8-12 February 1899
Malolos	24 March-16 August 1899
Laguna de Bay	8-17 April 1899
San Isidro	21 April-30 May and 15 October-l9 November 1899
Zapote River	13 June 1899
Cavite	7-13 October 1899 and 4 January-9 February 1900
Tarlac	5-20 November 1899
San Fabian	6-19 November 1899
Mindanao	4 July 1902-31 December 1904 and 22 October 1905
Jolo	1-24 May 1905 and 6-8 March 1906 and 11-15 June 1913

fig. from http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/picmp.htm

" After these campaigns only scattered insurrectionist elements remained active in north and south Luzon. Lawton (killed on 18 December 1899) drove up the Marikina in December to cut important insurgent communication lines, and Wheaton and Schwan completed pacification of Cavite in January - February 1900. Subsequently, insurgent remnants in the Visayans and Mindanao were dispersed.
The capture of Aguinaldo by Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston, on 23 March 1901, dealt the final blow to the insurgent cause. President Roosevelt announced official conclusion of the Insurrection on 4 July 1902." -http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/picmp.htm

April 30, 2002 was the day the President made his statement
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Now the funny part-

I tried to get the exact term and transcript used on the White House website for President Bush's mission accomplished statement....

" http://www.whitehouse.gov/error-404.html"

*The file you have attempted to access cannot be found. Please check the URL you entered to make sure there were no typing or copy-and-paste errors. You may also use our search facility to help you find the file you are looking for

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