There
are all sorts of gratuitious
comparisons between Desert Storm: The Empire Strikes Back
(the eminent war on Iraq), Hitler's attempt to take over the world,
and England's and France's failed adventure in Suez.
Surprisingly, no one ever mentions the American
Empire's first imperial adventure, which, among other places,
netted them the Philippines. I suppose I may be exhibiting some
ethnocentrism, given that I am of Filipino American descent, but I
can't help but look at the conquest of the Philippines by the U.S.
as some sort of prototype. It was one of the first real colonies of
the U.S. The first time that Americans faced jungle warfare, and
the first time Americans truly faced guerilla tactics on a large
scale, a veritable preview of Vietnam. (But clearly, the
Filipino-American War was likewise presaged by the so-called Indian
Wars, that is, the conquest of the Native American nations.)
In the same way that Admiral Dewey simply sailed into
Manila Bay and ousted the erstwhile Spanish governor, it is likely
that the U.S. will succeed in removing Saddam Hussein from power
with little resistance. But that was never the question.
What will happen during the Occupation?
The already-conquered are often usually wary of anyone
who is claiming to "liberate" them from their current conquerors.
As history has demonstrated again and again, the so-called
liberators are really just conquerors as well. Hence, many
Filipinos were wary of their American "liberators," in the same way
that 50 years later, they were wary of their Japanese "liberators."
In other words, I think that while it is reasonable to expect the
Iraqi people to welcome the toppling of their dictator, I think it
is overly optimistic to think that they will equally support a long
drawn out occupation.
And make no mistake, if the U.S. occupies Iraq, it will
make itself a target, in the same way that the occupation of the
Philippines gave the Imperial Japanese something to attack that was
within striking distance. Remember, much of Al Qaeda is still at
large, and there are certainly forces even more nefarious than
CIA-trained Islamic fundamentalists out there.
The occupation will not be cheap. And you got it, it
will be Joe Taxpayer who will be footing the bill, and, worse, it
will be GI Joe who will be paying with their lives. All while the
fat cats on Wall Street line their pockets with green.
Where are the anti-Imperialists now? Where is the
present day Mark Twain? While I can't deny that the American
occupation of the Philippines had many positive effects (as well as
many negative effects), from a purely American standpoint, it was
not one of the better thought out ideas.
Just remember this: Killing people is usually not a
good way to make allies.