Great post. Are you familiar with the research of James Pennebaker at UT Austin? It demonstrates the power of writing for recovery from trauma. Sounds like you've figured that out.

Take care of yourself.

I'm unsure whether to thank or curse you for this, but your mentioning of the Philippines caused me to do a bit of searching within Google Books, and then read in its entirety:

Blount, James H. Jr. 1912. The American occupation of the Philippines, 1898-1912. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. - Google Books

You may not be happy with the author though. He was son of a confederate officer who was a nine term Georgia Congressman, and was born into the reconstruction. He was a real racist towards American blacks, yet at the same time remarkably non-racist about Philippine nationals.

One excerpt greatly amuses me though, related to Simeon Ola, who is presently recognised as a great guerrilla general by historians. Blount was the appointed judge who presided over the cases arising from the Albay insurrection led by Simeon Ola. From page 435 of his book:

Ola was the star witness for the state. He held back nothing that would aid the prosecuting attorney to convict the men who had followed him for a year. He was given a sentence of thirty years (by Judge Carson) , as a sort of expression of opinion of the most Christian attitude possible concerning his real deserts, but his services as state's evidence entitled him to immunity, and for that very good and sufficient reason Judge Carson, Prosecuting Attorney Ross, and myself so recommended to the Governor.

You are conflating issues, and grayscaling history. The acceptable standards of waging lawful war, has greatly evolved in the last 1 1/2 centuries. International Standards for modern war began to be codified in the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, subsequently expanded and amended in the various Geneva Protocols.

he Indian wars were extremely brutal. War completely within one state has a tendency to be barbaric. Still, many of the worst atrocities of the Indian Wars can be traced to acts perpetrated by local raised armed forces, and not the US Military.

The Philippine Occupation and destruction of its insurrection which and been fomented out a desire for self-government, was is an ugly part of America's history, but it did not even begin to rise to the level of the evil that has been done in the GWOT. The difference is that few field officers serving during the Philippine War allowed rampant and overt atrocities to be committed by those within their command. War can easily bring out the worst in a human, but most soldiers still cling to0 their humanity, even if this is just a fantasy. The military's chain of command was has been seriously screwed. Far too few of the military's officer corps, and even fewer of it enlisted personnel possess the temerity to stand up in the face of human abuses, to tell those who are their comrades that is serves nothing but the darkness to continue down their present trajectory when they become filled with vengeance. Our leaders have surrendered the field of honour, and openly rationalise the torture of humans detained as combatants. They formulated policies which encouraged acts of inhumanity to be perpetrated by front-line troops.

When the battle ends, it is the duty of the commanding officers to assure that any prisoners are quickly secured in a place not accessible to the soldiers who they battled against, and then provide transport to the rear ASAP. Instead, the Afghan and Iraq prisoners of battle have often been placed within the very compounds of the soldiers whose buds had been killed through their complicity. If the civilian heads of our military will not walk the high ground, at least publicly, then they need be held accountable for violations of The Geneva Conventions.

There is another factor which is likely to enhance the incidence of PTSD amongst our current military personnel. This War Upon Iraq was fought under thinly veiled deceitful predicates, which have been proven to be lies that took them away from the good fight and quick end to this war up at Tora Bora in December, 2001. Experiencing war is bad enough at any level. To live with your service as a brutal lie enhances this. To have tossed you personal honour into the burning flames of moral relativism, naught but dupes to the whimseys of scum that conned America into a war based upon election politics, and by persons who serve two flags is an even greater future burden to bear. Being cycled repeatedly into the breach in scheduling designed to circumvent the lack of will amongst the citiznery to take up arms in a conflict they claim is just can in the end, only breed contempt and animosity.

There is however, an easy fix for the last problem, although not politically expedient. Military Recruiters should be trained how to masterfully exploit guilt, and then aggressively sent into the vast untapped resources of Grade A Military Prime Monkey Boy Fodder existent within campus chapters of the College Republicans.

How well I recall you running around handing out 5's!

Thanks, Chuck. Address noted.