Tell me how an arsenal of smart bombs and nuclear rockets will provide deterrence for religious fanatics with bombs strapped to their chests or briefcases full of germs or nuclear devices.
That's what Peters is discussing--the failure of the old forms of deterrence and war-strategizing to deal with the new asymetrical warfare.
I do not buy it. Neither do the gooners taken out in Pakistan by the JDAM last week!
The certain knowledge that if a briefcase full of germs or a nuclear device is used in this country, their religious center at Mecca will become radioactive glass would at least cut down attendance at next year's haj. Or maybe not, in which case, no problem.
That's what Peters is discussing--the failure of the old forms of deterrence and war-strategizing to deal with the new asymetrical warfare.
New asymetrical warfare? Hahahaha! Do the name Jacob W. *Hellroarin’ Jake* Smith ring any bells? Asymetrical warfare is nothing very new to Americans, just ask Aguinaldo's Phillipinos, Haiti's Charlemagne Peralte, or any surviving member of one of the near-extinct aboriginal American tribes-the Pine Ridge Oglala, for instance.
American troops have no problem playing the game hard, if that's what's called for, though most prefer to be more sporting. But we have an excellent history of being the wrong folks to get really mad.
General Smith instructed Major Littleton Waller, the commanding officer of the Marines assigned to cleanup the island of Samar, of the methods he was to employ: "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn the better it will please me." He directed that Samar be converted into a "howling wilderness." All persons who have not surrendered and were capable of carrying arms were to be shot. Who was capable? Anyone over ten years of age, according to Smith. At this point he became better known as Jake "Howling" Smith.
What followed was a sustained and widespread killing of Filipino civilians.
The basic elements of his policy were few. Food and trade to Samar were to be ended to starve the revolutionaries into submission. He instructed his officers to regard all Filipinos as enemies and treat them accordingly until they showed conclusively that they were friendly by specific actions such as revealing information about the location of revolutionaries or arms, working successfully as guides or spies, or trying actively to obtain the surrender of the guerrillas in the field. He gave his subordinates carte blanche authority in the application of General Order 100. (Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 General Orders No. 100, in brief, authorized the shooting on sight of all persons not in uniform acting as soldiers and those committing, or seeking to commit, sabotage.)
General Smith's "grand strategy" on Samar involved the use of widespread destruction to force the inhabitants to cease supporting the guerrillas and turn to the Americans from fear and starvation. He used his troops in sweeps of the interior in search for guerrilla bands and in attempts to capture Lukban, but did nothing to prevent contact between the guerrilla and the townspeople. American columns marched all over the island destroying habitations and draft animals.
Major Waller, for example, reported that in an eleven-day span his men burned 255 dwellings, slaughtered 13 carabaos and killed 39 people. Other officers reported similar activity.