Carl, you describe China as a murderous police state whose provocative behaviour should not be minimized. Fair enough. Yet you also repeatedly characterize the Phillipine-American War, in which roughly 200,000 Filipino civilians were killed, as a succesful model of counter-insurgency and nation building applicable even today. Fascinating.
CASUALTIES, February 4, 1899 - July 4, 1902:
Filipinos : 20,000 soldiers killed in action; 200,000 civilians died
Americans : 4,390 dead (1,053 killed in action; 3,337 other deaths)
http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com/
Also, there seems to be a new film out about that splendid little war:
http://www3.amigomovie.com/AMIGO, the 17th feature film from Academy Award-nominated writer-director John Sayles, stars legendary Filipino actor Joel Torre as Rafael, a village mayor caught in the murderous crossfire of the Philippine-American War.
When U.S. troops occupy his village, Rafael comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer (Chris Cooper) to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fighters. But Rafael’s brother (Ronnie Lazaro) is the head of the local guerillas, and considers anyone who cooperates with the Americans to be a traitor. Rafael quickly finds himself forced to make the impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by ordinary civilians in an occupied country.
A powerful drama of friendship, betrayal, romance and heartbreaking violence, AMIGO is a page torn from the untold history of the Philippines, and a mirror of today’s unresolvable conflicts.
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