[Cogadh na Sith]

Is this a true story, for sure? Who is Vendyl Jones?

I know about the fighting and the 'Moros' in Philippines, but this story has my 'Urban Legend' antennae twitching....

[wjcsux]

This is true. I read about this many years ago in a military history class. Another true fact. The Moros had fanatics that they tied their testicles in rawhide. They let the rawhide shrink. It drove these guys absolutely insane. They gave them machetes to attack U.S. soldiers. The conflict with the Moros is why the USA replaced the .38 revolvers with the 1911 Colt .45 ACP, BTW.

[JeepInMazar]

this story has my 'Urban Legend' antennae twitching....

Yes, I agree. However, it was sent to me by a trusted friend who has been in the military. It was sent to him by someone working on his Masters degree at the Joint Military Intelligence College.

[LibWhacker]

A historian friend of mine tells me the British used to do something very similar to this. IIRC, condemned jihadists were frequently wrapped in pigskins by the Brits then shot, the bloody pigskins removed and wrapped around the next group of jihadists who were then also shot, etc., until all scheduled executions for the day were done with. Making sure there were Moslem witnesses was crucial to the scheme . . . Very effective.

My friend did tell me however that unlike his ancestors, a modern moslem would just laugh at this treatment; islamic theologians have since identified a Koranic out for any devout moslem killed in this way.

But who knows? I'd like to see it tried on a massive scale anyway. We seem to be dealing with quite primitive minds here.