The Philippine-American War (1889-1910) and the U.S.- Iraq War

The U.S. succeeded to pacify the big landlords, the Roman Catholic Church, the upper class Filipinos and some rebels thru carrot and stick approach. The Americans offered (bribed) them with big tracks of land and government posts in return of loyalty to the new colonizers. The remnants of the General Emilio Aguilnado army fought the Americans ruthlessly in hit and run tactics in the countryside. Surprise attacks and ambushes may have demoralized the fighting spirit of the U.S. occupation forces. The Americans retaliated in kind with all the ruthlessness exercised in the Indian Wars.

Subjugating Iraq was turning out to be the worst Bush government’s nightmare. Newly formed government and U.S. trained security forces are impotent to stop suicide bombers. Guerilla urban warfare is being fought in Iraq. The battlefront is the heart of the capital city of Baghdad in which suffered heavy civilian casualties caught in the crossfire. The Al Qaeda wants instigate a civil war between the Sunnis and the Shiites to embarrass U.S. President George W. Bush and the new Iraqi government. The U.S. will be caught in a quagmire or no way-out in case of the outbreak of all-out bloody civil war between two religious sects. Iraqi suicide bombers mostly Sunni insurgents and Al Qaeda allies have inflicted heavy casualties to the U.S. forces and Iraqi security forces. U.S. President George W. Bush got a hard time to convince the American public and the U.S. Congress for the justification of the Iraq invasion. The intelligence community may have fed the Bush Administration false/raw information about weapons of mass destruction and President Saddam’s alleged Al Qaeda connection.

I watched ABC mini series drama The Path of 9/11. In the first part, Pakistani bomb expert Ramzi Yousef on board a Japan-bound Philippine Airlines exploded a bomb as a test mission. He assembled a bomb (liquid explosive and wrist watch timer) in the toilet. Project Bojinka was uncovered by Philippine National Police (PNP) in 1995 after arresting Abdul Hakim Murad in a Manila apartment. Based on the gathered information from Ramzi’s laptop computer, Ramzi Yousef and Al Qaeda operatives plotted to assassinate visiting Pope John Paul II and U.S. President Bill Clinton. The plot also revealed for the hijacking of U.S. commercial airliners, bombing them or crashing them into several targets in the U.S. Ramzi Yousef was arrested in Pakistan with the help of U.S. embassy officials and the Pentagon. He was convicted for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. The ABC mini series drama The Path of 9/11 is worth of watching. There was no commercial breaks for the last 21/2 hours length. Some critics claimed its not accurate, distortion of history and pro Bush administration. Al Qaeda has links to Abu Sayaff Islamic group operating in Southern Philippines.


Related Links:
Colt M1905 Automatic Pistol
We've sent GIs to the Philippines before with disastrous results
Philippine Connection 9/11 Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 Part 4