The Moro War How America Battled a Muslim Insurgency in the Philippine Jungle, 1902-1913

by Arnold, James R.

• ISBN13: 9781608190249
• ISBN10: 1608190242
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-08-02
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Press

Summary

In the aftermath of 9/11, the United States has engaged with militant Islamic enemies across the world, fighting wars on multiple fronts against an often amorphous enemy. But the War on Terror is not the first time the U.S. has battled Islamic extremists. The forgotten Moro War, stretching from 1902-1913 in the Southern Philippines, was the first confrontation between the U.S. military and a determined Muslim insurgency. The Moro conflict resembled American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than superficially: it was a bitter, drawn-out conflict in which US policy was constested fiercely between advocates of punitive military expedition and proponents of a more conciliatory approach. As in today's Middle East, American soldiers battled guerillas in a harsh landscape where the deadliest challenge was often to tell civilians from enemy combatants. Moroland became a crucible of leadership for the U.S. Army, bringing the force that had fought the Civil War and the Plains Indians Wars into the 20th century. The officer corps of the Moro campaign matured into the American generals of World War I. Chief among them was the future General Jack Pershing. Rich with relevance to today's news from the Middle East, and a gripping piece of storytelling,The Moro Waris a must-read for anyone interested in American military history.

Author Biography

James R. Arnold is the author of more than twenty books, including Jungle of Snakes: A Century of Counterinsurgency Warfare from the Philippines to Iraqknl (named one of the Best Books of 2009 by the St.Louis Post-Dispatch). He lives on a farm near Lexington, Virginia.

Table of Contents

"Although The Moro War covers events a century ago, those seeking to wield influence in an Islamic land today would do well to study its lessons."—Wall Street Journal

"Drawing upon contemporaneous official U.S. sources and on participants’ letters and memoirs, [Arnold] skillfully weaves riveting and vigorous descriptions of the ferocious U.S.-Moro engagements"—Journal of Military History

"The story of this relatively unknown epoch in American history has long echoes."—Shelf Awareness

“[A] lucid political and military history … a fine history of an obscure colonial war in which both sides fought bravely, suffered cruelly, often behaved horribly and accomplished little.”—Military History

 

“[An] excellent mixture of political and military history…Highlighting the missteps of the U.S. counterinsurgency in Moroland, Arnold offers sharp lessons for today along with an insightful, often gruesome, and timely portrait of an insurgency.”—Publishers Weekly

 

"A lively, well-told chronicle of a conflict that commanders in more recent conflicts could well have [learned] from studying."—Kirkus

"[A] concise and readable history...An excellent summary of a forgotten war that offers many parallels to the present."—Library Journal

 

“The Moro War is a superb depiction of a small war of the past that is decidedly relevant to the present. James R. Arnold is a brilliant story teller who captures the gritty reality of this forgotten war along with fascinating portraits of leaders like Leonard Wood and John J. Pershing. All of this is enhanced by vintage photographs throughout the book that illustrate Arnold's prose. Although there are few tactical lessons from this war that are applicable today, the operational lesson of putting the force out with the population to provide security was crucial to the Iraq "surge" and is at the heart of today’s campaign in Afghanistan.”—John T. Fishel, Emeritus Professor, National Defense University, co-author of Uncomfortable Wars Revisited