What is counter-insurgency?
In response to revolutionary movements in the Global South, the US has developed over the last century techniques of warfare, economics, politics, and culture to isolate and crush people’s resistance movements to domination.
“Counter-insurgency” (COIN) is the US’ method of suppressing national liberation movements. COIN is a military solution to economic and social inequality and injustice. COIN means widespread violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses.
US colonization: “Pacification” campaigns (1899-1910s)
From 1899 until the 1910s, the US colonized and violently suppressed the revolutionary forces in the Philippines who were fighting for independence. Estimates suggest 1-3 million Filipinos died from attacks, famine, and disease.
The first “native” military troops, the Philippine Constabulary, were established by the US and trained at the Philippine Military Academy, modeled after Westpoint – down to the same grey wool uniforms! The AFP-PNP today are the direct descendants of the Constabulary.
Return of the US: Early days of the CIA (1940s)
At the end of WWII, the US returned to the Philippines to re-establish its rule after Japanese occupation. However, the Filipino people had just thrown out the Japanese in a campaign of resistance and guerilla war. The Huks, a communist-led guerilla army, had even established its own rule in Central Luzon among peasant communities.
In response, the newly established CIA cut its teeth in COIN operations against the Huks.
CIA agent Edward Lansdale became close with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Ramon Magsaysay. With Lansdale as his mentor, Magsaysay led the brutal suppression campaign against the Huks.
The military preyed on the superstition of the peasantry by dressing up the corpses of murdered Huks as if they had been attacked by aswang, a creature similar to a vampire. The murdered rebels would be left to hang with their blood drained near communities suspected of supporting the Huks.
Oplan Sagittarius: Martial Law (1972-1986)
Ferdinand Marcos, infamous dictator and father of Bongbong Marcos, declared Martial Law across the country as an act of brutal suppression against the people.
His reign lasted for 20 years, with thousands of killings, enforced disappearances, and other rights violations.
In this time, the revolutionary communist movement expanded nationwide as more and more people were driven to take up arms in the face of fascist repression.
