14 JULY

Maj. Gen. Elwell Otis of the imperialistic U.S.
"fighting, having begun, must go on to the grim end"

1898 - President Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy of the still-in-revolution Philippine Republic writes to gullibly ask George Dewey, admiral of the emerging imperialist United States, to forward  to Washington his June 18 and 23 decrees establishing a  revolutionary dictatorial government to continue the fight for  independence, further stating that "the desires on this government are to remain always in friendship  with the great North American nation, to which we are under many obligations"; on this same day, the 4th U.S. Military  Expedition to the Philippines sails for Manila under Maj. Gen.  Elwell S. Otis, in what would later prove to be  preparation for the imperialistic American invasion of the Philippines: Otis would oversee many of the American atrocities in the bloody and protracted Filipino-American War (1899-1914)  that their forces would surreptitiously instigate come February of the following year, and would be quoted for saying "fighting, having begun, must go on to the grim end" in response to Aguinaldo's plea for an end to the war; around eight months earlier, Dewey forged an alliance with Aguinaldo, deceptively promising to honor Philippine independence, during the (second phase of) the Philippine Revolution intersecting with the Bald Eagle's war against Spain; apparently fooled into thinking it is part of the supposed alliance, Aguinaldo a few weeks stupidly earlier ordered his men "not to interfere" with the North Americans, inadvertently allowing the free entry of the G.I.'s that would lead to the infamous August 1898 Mock Battle of Manila that would falsely make it appear that the Americans--instead of the Filipino revolutionaries--are responsible for defeating the Spaniards in the Southeast Asian archipelago; the baseless Treaty of Paris "ceding" the Philippines to the Bald Eagle nation would be signed, the  U.S. Congress would approve, the enemy Americans will invade with might and cruelty and the Filipinos would unsuccessfully fight a protracted and bloody war to preserve their newfound freedom and dignity.


Photo art: JB

Raw photo: Wikipedia