The Art of War

[TheSmilingBandit]

The reason why Hannibal wasn't able to conquer Rome was coz he didn't have the siege equipment like onagers to break through its walls. But in a battlefield, the Romans couldn't take him out. It was only when Scipio Africanus took the war to Carthage when the Romans had success against Hannibal.

 

Even the Romans rarely brought assembled siege equipments, what they did bring were engineers, something that Hannibal didn't have.

[WatchWatcher]

Why is it that the AFP can't seem to win their war against the CPP-NPA and the MNLF/MILF/ASG?

[TheSmilingBandit]

Why is it that the AFP can't seem to win their war against the CPP-NPA and the MNLF/MILF/ASG?

Its very hard to beat a guerrilla force, the British couldn't beat the colonialists, nor the Americans the VC. There are only 2 ways to beat such a force, the first is to have popular support from the native population against the guerrillas, the 2nd way is to wipe out the indigenous population where the guerrillas hide. The first method was how the British army won against the Malayan Emergency.

[WatchWatcher]

Its very hard to beat a guerrilla force, the British couldn't beat the colonialists, nor the Americans the VC. There are only 2 ways to beat such a force, the first is to have popular support from the native population against the guerrillas, the 2nd way is to wipe out the indigenous population where the guerrillas hide. The first method was how the British army won against the Malayan Emergency.

Has anyone ever tried the 2nd technique?

[TheSmilingBandit]

Has anyone ever tried the 2nd technique?

The Romans never had a problem with Carthage after they enslaved the population slaughtering those that they didn't enslave, then they destroyed the walls and houses and burnt the Carthaginian navy in the port to create a hazard to shipping, they also burnt the crops and slaughtered whatever animals they didn't take. Its pretty effective, Carthage never did any guerrilla warfare against Rome after that.

 

The Mongols also never had a problem with guerrilla warfare because they did the same thing.

[macbolan00]

Why is it that the AFP can't seem to win their war against the CPP-NPA and the MNLF/MILF/ASG?

that's like asking why can't the the russians and even the americans can't wipe out the taliban, and why the US pulled out of vietnam. eradicating a stubborn guerilla force capable of living off the land and the populace depends on the civilian government's long-term development efforts. we have NPAs because the bottom fell out for our coconut oil market internationally. the huks and sakadas in negros and iloilo were eradicated when they were given land to till on the other side of the visayas (leyte and samar.)

Edited December 18, 2009 by macbolan00

[TheSmilingBandit]

that's like asking why can't the the russians and even the americans can't wipe out the taliban, and why the US pulled out of vietnam. eradicating a stubborn guerilla force capable of living off the land and the populace depends on the civilian government's long-term development efforts. we have NPAs because the bottom fell out for our coconut oil market internationally. the huks and sakadas in negros and iloilo were eradicated when they were given land to till on the other side of the visayas (leyte and samar.)

The last people to conquer the Afgans were the Mongols, they did it by wiping out those who resist them, as there were no news coverages, they even purposely spread and magnified rumours and tales of their cruelty, peoples who were conquered later didn't even bother to resist.

[Guest hastati]

Even the Romans rarely brought assembled siege equipments, what they did bring were engineers, something that Hannibal didn't have.

Hannibal did have engineers, otherwise he and his army could not have crossed the Alps.

[TheSmilingBandit]

Hannibal did have engineers, otherwise he and his army could not have crossed the Alps.

Care to explain that statement more fully please?

[Guest hastati]

Care to explain that statement more fully please?

It would not have been possible to traverse the Alps without engineers since you needed them to break big boulders and the engineers of Hannibal concocted a formula to break big boulders. The heated the boulders using fire then poured vinegar on it to break it.

[bekim]

Why is it that the Americans can't seem to win the war when they are fighting soldiers wearing only pajamas, the Viet Congs in their black pajamas and now the Afghanistans in their white pajamas?

[TheSmilingBandit]

It would not have been possible to traverse the Alps without engineers since you needed them to break big boulders and the engineers of Hannibal concocted a formula to break big boulders. The heated the boulders using fire then poured vinegar on it to break it.

Polybus stated that Hannibal left Iberia with 90,000 Infantry and 12,000 Cavalry as well as 'many' war elephants. We know that he left around 11,000 men to garrison the Pyrenees, when he arrived in Italy (after conquering the Pyrenees and crossing Gaul and the Alps) he had about 20,000 Infantry and 4,000 Cavalry and a 'few' war elephants. If he had engineers he wouldn't have lost so much men and horses and elephants. While the destruction of rockfalls is a fact, it seemed to have been done more out of desperation than engineering. Perhaps he had a few, however not enough engineers to help him besiege the various Italian cities, much less the city on the Tiber.

 

Why is it that the Americans can't seem to win the war when they are fighting soldiers wearing only pajamas, the Viet Congs in their black pajamas and now the Afghanistans in their white pajamas?

The only modern army to defeat a guerrilla force was the British army when they defeated the Malaysian insurgents in the early 60's, even then, when the Brits moved out, the insurgents returned. Even the AFP can't seem to beat the CPP-NPA and the MNLF-MILF-ASG rebels.

[macbolan00]

correction, the philippine government managed to eradicate the huk-balahap movement through peaceful means. same with the mnlf (although it remains a militant armed force.) only the NPA, MILF and ASG are actively fighting the AFP. the NPA can live off the land and the local populace through active support and extortion. the MILF has a multi-level support of a sizable muslim population (from rich to poor, bums to intellectuals.) but because of this, it is also amenable to peaceful negotiations. the ASG is nothing more than a bandit group with no real capability to maintain an armed campaign with the government (or even maintain terroristic pressure on metro manila and other city centers.)

[TheSmilingBandit]

correction, the philippine government managed to eradicate the huk-balahap movement through peaceful means.

I stand corrected, yes the Hukbalahap movement was also ended using the same tactics that worked for the British, destroy popular support for the insurgents. Though of course, like the Malayan insurgents, the Hukbalahap movement was survived by the CPP-NPA.

 

same with the mnlf (although it remains a militant armed force.)

LOL, the more militant members just distanced themselves to form the MILF so that the MNLF can become mainstream. The MNLF-MILF-ASG are just factions of the same cause.

 

only the NPA, MILF and ASG are actively fighting the AFP. the NPA can live off the land and the local populace through active support and extortion. the MILF has a multi-level support of a sizable muslim population (from rich to poor, bums to intellectuals.) but because of this, it is also amenable to peaceful negotiations. the ASG is nothing more than a bandit group with no real capability to maintain an armed campaign with the government (or even maintain terroristic pressure on metro manila and other city centers.)

The NPAs support base seems to be actually small now, they exist due to brigandage more than anything else it seems. The MILF is just trying to expand the territory for their more 'pacifist' brethren in the MNLF while the ASG is their total 'hard-liners extremist faction' that can be blamed for anything else. Edited December 21, 2009 by TheSmilingBandit

[macbolan00]

hey, the 1996 peace treaty signed by misuari's MNLF and ramos' government was no joke. there has not been any serious armed conflict with the mnlf since then (except for a few gun-pointing at times, especially when misuari was accused of whatever crime there was --from malversation of ARMM funds all the way to treason.) milf is going the same way, why? because it's a classic within a classic. those movements feed on the economy propped up by the national government and if you want to stick around, you migth as well get good terms with the government. the ASG is really just a bandit group that can operate in the southwestern-most part of the country, where the rule of law is practically absent. and this is nothing to cry about since only 3% of the population lives there (who happen to be among the poorest and least educated,) and they contribute a whopping 1% of the country's annual gdp. if i was president, i'll really leave that place to the dogs.