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History 101

By Paul Buchheit

04 May, 2007
Countercurrents.org

The great western power was determined to retain control over oil-rich Iraq, and it used its vastly superior air power to subdue the forces of the Iraqi leader Hussein. Soon after its initial victory, it installed an interim government in the Middle Eastern country. But resistance to the occupation continued to grow. As the determined invader saw its casualty count pass 2000, and as the massive funding required to support the effort had surpassed total spending on social programs back home, public opinion began to turn against the war. The western power sought to reduce its costs while maintaining its rule, in part by offering reconstruction services to Iraq, which had the effect of charging the devastated country for its own subjugation. But as the occupation dragged on, Iraq's resentment grew stronger and the
war became ever more difficult to end.

This happened in the early 1920s. The western power was Great Britain. Hussein was Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic nation.

Perhaps if we knew history a little better we wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past. Let's consider some uniquely American moments in history. Like when Americans hid their faces and gathered in the streets, and then attacked the property of a large global corporation because of its destructive effect on local businesses. The World Bank protests in Seattle September 2000? No, the Boston Tea Party. An event that characterizes the heroic beginnings of our country was not much different from the protests that many of us consider anti-American today.

And then there's the familiar story of American intervention in a troubled country, to bring civilization to its people and to maintain America's commercial interests.

The President "prayed [to] Almighty God for light and guidance." Then it was alleged that the enemy country was responsible for an act of terror against Americans. A vote was taken, and a resolution was passed to begin military action. Last-minute peace proposals by the enemy were dismissed as "merely a trick" to "gain time."

"We come as administering angels, not as despots," proclaimed one senator. The American soldiers entered the country and a bloody period of fighting began, in which several thousand Americans and tens of thousands of enemy soldiers and civilians were killed over 3-1/2 years. Military leaders censored the press to shelter the public back home from the horrible images.

Insurgents continued to strike, and although at one point a general declared that the rebellion was "almost entirely suppressed," intermittent battles persisted and a search for the enemy leaders intensified. It was decided that captured guerrillas would be treated not as soldiers, but as "criminals" who were not entitled to prisoner of war status.

Opponents of the war were considered by many to be traitors. Most Americans believed that our forces, fighting for peace and justice, should be held in higher esteem than those who resisted such a noble cause. A major newspaper announced: "[We] have no purpose toward them except to consecrate to liberty and to open for them a way to happiness."

But then came stories of our soldiers imprisoning, raping, and torturing their captives. There were second thoughts about the war. The media reflected the changing attitudes as another major newspaper reported "We have actually come to do the thing we went to war to banish." The anti-war movement was fueled with comments such as this from the president of a top university: "It was our fault and ours alone that this war began."

This happened 100 years before the War in Iraq. The country was The Philippines. The war was the Philippine-American War, immediately following the Spanish-American War. The President was McKinley. The Senator was Knute Nelson of Minnesota. The General was Arthur MacArthur. Over 4,300 American soldiers were killed. Some estimates put civilian deaths at over 250,000. The American abuses were called the "Balangiga Massacre." The first newspaper was the Salt Lake City Tribune. The second newspaper was the Baltimore American. The university president was David Starr Jordan of Stanford. [26b,26c]

History seems to have an eerie way of repeating itself. We seem
determined not to pay attention.

References

"Observations on Iraq and the Great Powers," International Relations and Security Network, 2006

George Monbiot, "The Flight to India," The Guardian, October 21, 2003
(http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/
econ/2003/1021jobflight.htm
)

Stephen Kinzer, "Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq" (Times Books, Henry Holt & Co., 2006)

Stuart Creighton Miller, "Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903" (Yale University Press, 1982)

Paul Buchheit
Professor, Harold Washington College
Founder of Global Initiative Chicago (GIChicago.org)
30 E Lake St
Chicago IL 60601
email : [email protected]

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