What does this sound like?

[drumcorpssnare]

America goes to war. The intent is to occupy the nation they invade. Our troops battle a bitter insurgency that becomes a military nightmare. This causes great problems on the domestic front. A naive and angry press smears the entire campaign, dragging good names through the mud. Over 3,000 of our troops are killed. Civilian casualties range in the hundreds of thousands.
For the local population, there are many different definitions of what freedom is. The local insurgents, control the citizens through fear and reprisals...all the while fighting against America's troops. Our attempts to pacify the area enrage the area "war lords". We attempt to cut off insurgent's assistance from civilians by garrisoning the countryside.

Does this sound familiar? I'm not talking about Iraq. Who can tell me what I just described?

drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[David Jameson]

P . I insurrection early 1900. We won that.

[drumcorpssnare]

David- Awww, man...you took away my fun ! Was it really that easy?:D

My point in posting this, is that we've been through this before. It was difficult, but we made it. The world didn't end. The sky didn't fall.

But....there were things learned regarding tactics and strategy, that were forgotten thru the years. Things that would have served us well in future conflicts. The things we learn now, in Iraq, both sucesses and failures...need to be remembered. That way, we won't have to "re-learn" them thirty or forty years from now.
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[David Jameson]

Mark
You are right about us not remembering lessons of the past but I also think you have a different kind of American .I hate to say it but they don't seem to have alot of staying power .The words been out a number of years 'Kill a couple of them and they will go home'.I get real ****ed of thinking about all or reps that voted for this fight and have been screaming bloody murder over every little set back.

[drumcorpssnare]

David- Isn't it funny how history repeats itself? The "muckraker" press sensationalized every report of Americans being macheted by Philippine insurgents. If Americans tortured the bad guys, (and they did) the press made it out to be the end of the world.
When Dewey sank the Spanish ships at Manila, he was glorified. A few short years later, he was all but forgotten. Most Americans don't know that what our soldiers, and Marines did in the Philippines 1898-1902 was the most sucessful counterinsurgency campaign waged by a Western military power in modern times.
My great-grandfather was a U.S. Marine infantryman in the Philippine Insurrection. SEMPER FI

drumcorpssnare:usmc: