Pershing's legacy remains

Associated Press ^ | January 18, 2002 | Jim Gomez

[Oxylus]

ZAMBOANGA, PHILIPPINES

U.S. troops in the southern Philippines face the prospect of battle with descendants of the Muslim insurgents that brought U.S. General John "Black Jack" Pershing to the country more than a century ago.

Before deploying to Basilan on the weekend, the Green Berets took seminars on the roots of Muslim rebellion in the poverty-wracked south as they brought Washington's war on terrorism to one of the most remote parts of the former U.S. colony.

"It's an old war," said Datu Amil Jumaani, a Muslim professor who lectured the U.S. troops.

Arab missionaries brought Islam to the Philippines in the 14th century. Spanish colonizers arrived in 1521, bringing Christianity that was embraced by the central and northern Philippines.

Christian settlers later ventured south to Mindanao island in search of land and food, relegating the minority Muslims to the margins. Dispossessed of their land and threatened by successive foreign invaders, Philippine Muslims have waged uprisings on and off for nearly 500 years.

At the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States took Spain's place as the colonial power in the Philippines -- and as the focus of the anger of independence-minded Filipinos, including Muslims in the south.

In 1899, the United States dispatched a young cavalry officer, John Pershing, later to command U.S. troops in France during the First World War, to the Philippines. He embarked on a campaign to crush the Muslim insurgents, gaining battle victories and criticism with his tough methods.

Then as now, the U.S. military was quick to take advantage of technical advances. U.S. troops, armed with .38-calibre revolvers, had difficulty stopping suicidal guerrillas called juramentados. They adopted the Colt .45 automatic pistol, still the standard sidearm of the U.S. military.

Abu Sayyaf guerrillas say the U.S. troops deployed to Basilan to advise the Philippine military are like those in Gen. Pershing's day and have vowed to resist them.

"Today, we are again facing the modern-day version of Black Jack Pershing," an Abu Sayyaf statement said. "This struggle won't run out of volunteers. Our time would surely end, just like the time of our illustrious predecessors. But others would, God willing, continue to carry this torch."

Abu Sayyaf fighters would do well to heed history. In an attack Gen. Pershing ordered on the island of Jolo in 1913, as many as 2,000 Muslim rebels were killed.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good article!

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[Oxylus]

Good article!

Yes. Know your enemy. A good lesson for students as to why history is important.

[11Bush]

Last time we had to contend with these clowns we were rewarded with the development of the forerunner of the 1911 .45cal. That was the longest lasting and most beneficial product of the adventure.

Molon Labe!