Charles Bohannan and Guerrilla warfare in the Philippines (1939-1954)

[Ridler]

Thanks, everyone. I appreciate both the suggestions as well as the comparisons with other COIN case studies and current ops.

Dayuhan, I'd be keen for any resources on the main players in Filipino politics (all stripes) in the 1930s, if you could suggest them. I've not the memoirs of Taruc, but did any member of the Lava family write a memoir or autobiography?

Also, do any of you have recommendation on monographs regarding the COIN as a subject taught/encouraged between 1954-1965? I've got most of Bohannan's lectures from the Washington cocktail circuit, and from the Rand Symposium on COIN, but I'm less schooled on what influence, if any, the Huk campaign had on educators in this period (though Andrew Birtle has given me some very good leads, and his own work on COIN doctrine is a great place to start).

Dayuhan: yes, I'd concur that the lessons of the Philippines are perhaps viewed as valuable for both similarities and differences with other COIN operations, as opposed to analogues (the lack of a external sponsor, despite limited attempts to secure Chinese aid, comes to mind: though I have found some evidence to suggest this wasn't as limited as most scholars have argued). But in terms of understanding the impact of the "victory" over the Huk in say, 1954, it was certainly viewed by many in Manila and Washington as a success after eight or nine years of conflict. I'm as much interested in this perception of victory in the short term as to its verity in the long. Both are critical to my work.

Again, Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

[John T. Fishel]

Jay, take a look at Rufus Phillips book, Why Vietnam Matters. Phillips worked for Lansdale and with Bohannon. At last count he was still alive and living in N. VA. and would be worthwhile to interview.

Cheers

JohnT

[Bob's World]

John,

Nice reference. I have ordered a copy and look forward to going through it in detail. Vietnam went bad from the start, so I look forward to learning more about the start. From the blurbs on Amazon though, It sounds to me that Rufus argued for better tactics, but IMO promoted the same flawed strategy of creating a separate Southern state to counterbalance a Northern state. I still believe we would have been best served by out-competing China to champion a unified state, regardless of the Communist government it had at the time. I think this would have prevented the extremes that government ultimately had to resort to to overcome the obstacle of US intervention to prevent a unified Vietnam. We'll never know. The Mid 50s were a scary time for US foreign policy, and I appreciate why men like Lansdale and Phillips pushed for what they did. I just don't think it was the right thing, and that blaming ultimate failure of such approaches on the tactics that were later applied to secure an unsustainable condition is to me missing the main point.

Bob

[Ridler]

John,

I've read Rufus's book, and interviewed him. Great guy and full of insight. They did a wonderful job with his book, too.

JSR

[ganulv]

The Rosaldos’ stuff (Michelle and Renato) might reference sources of use to you. Ilongot headhunting is an interesting read regardless.

[Dayuhan]

Dayuhan, I'd be keen for any resources on the main players in Filipino politics (all stripes) in the 1930s, if you could suggest them. I've not the memoirs of Taruc, but did any member of the Lava family write a memoir or autobiography?

Most of what's written on Philippine politics of the 30s is dominated by Quezon, Osmena, and the politicking over the terms of independence. Very little attention has been paid specifically to the Communist and agrarian movements of that period. There's probably some material in political journals but a lot of it is probably a bit suspect, as many of those who write on these subjects are ideologically affiliated and inclined toward revisionism in any number of directions. Period sources would be the best bet, but finding them will be a challenge. If I were in Manila I'd start at the University of the Philippines, and ask some of the historians there for suggestions. In the US... good question. Some of the bibliographies of the standard history books might have some useful references. I'd look at mine but I just moved houses and everything is boxed up!

I would guess that somewhere in DC there are archived documents of the colonial administration, and that buried therein would be some very interesting commentary on both the emergent communist movement and the peasant unrest in Central Luzon.

Good luck, I'd be interested in seeing the output...

[davidbfpo]

An old RFI thread opened for an update.

It appears that JSR, the original poster, aka Jason Ridler, did not publish a book, but an article in the printed journal Small Wars & Insurgencies in March 2015, entitled 'A lost work of El Lobo: Lieutenant-Colonel Charles T.R. Bohannan's unpublished study of guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency in the Philippines, 1899–1955'.

The Abstract states:

Charles Ted Rutledge Bohannan (1914–1982) became an integral agent of US counterinsurgency operations during the early Cold War, contributing to both the success of the COIN effort to defeat the communist Huk insurgents in the Philippines and the stalled COIN efforts in Vietnam. In the early 1960s, he wrote a short and compact analysis of the US and Filipino experience of guerrilla warfare, from the Philippine–American war until the defeat of the Huk Rebellion. It was never published. Reprinted here, Bohannan's analysis of lessons learned makes a substantial contribution to the history of American ideas of unconventional warfare by an expert who contributed these lessons to the successful defeat of an insurgency in South East Asia.

Yes behind a pay wall via:http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...8.2015.1008088