Before Iraq and Vietnam, There Was the Philippines

On July 4, 1902, Theodore Roosevelt declared victory in the Philippine-American War, known in US history as the Philippine Insurrection. He had hoped to soothe critical American public opinion of the conflict, which began on February 4, 1899. But the fighting would drag on until 1913 and eventually claim over 4,324 American soldiers – still above the body count in Iraq.

The conflict began as a conventional war with the revolutionary army of the nascent Philippine Republic. But it later degenerated into an ugly war of subjugation when the Filipinos, realizing that they could not beat American military might, switched to hit-and-run guerilla tactics and melted into the countryside. For the first time, US soldiers experienced the frustration of fighting an unseen enemy and of trying to distinguish friend from foe.

But the conflict didn’t end with the surrender of the last Filipino army general in 1902. The other half of it began when US government control began to extend south and run into resistance from Muslim Filipinos, who successfully fought off Spanish colonial rule for 300 years.

It was on the island of Mindanao where US soldiers would first experience suicidal Muslim attacks. Muslim warriors back then believed that it was glorious to die in the field of battle and they charged US lines with kris swords swishing like windmills.

They were dubbed juramentados by the Spaniards because of their fanatical attacks. It often took several bullets to bring down a Muslim warrior and by then at least one US soldier would be left dead. That prompted the US Army to adopt the Colt .45 pistol, the only firearm with enough stopping power against Muslim suicidal attacks.

Today, juramentado means “to run amuck” in Filipino. Had the Muslims used sticks of dynamite instead, they would’ve been no different from the suicide bombers of today.

The Philippine-American War erupted simply because America ignored Filipino aspirations for independence. The US government dubbed the conflict the Philippine Insurrection, a euphemism contrived to convey an impression that Filipinos were opposing legitimate US authority.

However, after the war with America, Filipinos eventually accepted US rule and everything American. As Filipinos today satirically summarize their own history: 300 years in a Spanish convent and 50 years of Hollywood.

Shortly after the Philippine-American War broke out, America introduced public education and efficient government service under its policy of “benevolent assimilation” to win over Filipino hearts and minds. English, Philippines’ lingua franca, is an American legacy.

As for the remnants of Filipino armed resistance, the US colonial government formed the all-Filipino Philippine Constabulary to help the US Army. Now, the US military is trying to get Iraqi security forces to handle the so-called “insurgents.”

In a 2003 address to a joint session of the Philippine Congress during a brief stopover in Manila, George W. Bush used the Philippines as a showcase of what he’s been trying to do in Iraq, exporting American-style democracy. Highlighting America’s so-called “special relationship” with the Philippines, he evoked memories of Filipinos and Americans fighting side by side against Spanish colonial rule and Japanese military occupation. He made no mention of what happened in between.

Since Bush’s declaration of victory and an “end to major combat operations” in Iraq, America has been looking around for answers to the war. Security experts, military officials and analysts agree that military muscle alone would be insufficient to end the killings in Iraq. The real battle is for hearts and minds of the Iraqis.

All the Bush administration has to do is read its own history books. Mark Twain, who opposed the US annexation of the Philippines, once warned: “But now, why, we have gotten into a quagmire from which each fresh step renders the difficulty of extrication immensely greater.”