Fighting Islam's Fierce Moro Warriors - America s first war with suicidal Islamic warriors

Military History Magazine ^ | April, 2002 | Fighting Islam's Fierce Moro Warriors - Page 1

[Restorer]

I got intrigued and did a little research on the Leonard Wood and genocide on Samar issue. Apparently the person reponsible for the excesses was a General Jacob Smith, not Governor Wood. He indeed gave an order for all males over the age of 10 to be killed. However, not even the anti-American Filipino nationalist website claimed the order was ever really carried out. So it was apparently mostly hyperbole, although I've been unable to come up with any actual figures on the number killed. One American unit was listed as killing 39 Filipinos during an eleven-day sweep. Hardly genocidal levels.

It is interesting that Smith was later court-martialed and convicted, although his sentence was a slap on the wrist. Also, the fighting on Samar was with Christian Filipinos, not with Moros. The Americans had originally put a garrison on the island at the request of the inhabitants, who wanted protection from the Moros.