and it worked quite well during Gen. Sherman's 1863 Kentucky campaign and Gen. Phil Sheridan's subsequent reduction of the Shenandoah Valley. We don't have to be particularly smart; we merely have to do some disgusting things. Sherman and Sheridan suppressed sniping at Union soldiers by Confederate civilians by burning the towns (just the towns, not the townsfolk) that sheltered them. In other words, they forced collective responsibility upon a hostile population, a doctrine that in peacetime is entirely repugnant, but that in wartime becomes unavoidable. By contrast, the peacetime procedure of turning petty criminals into police snitches has backfired terribly. No doubt we will learn that the perpetrators of tonight's horror at London Bridge were known to police, like the Manchester Arena suicide bomber and most of the perpetrators of large-scale terrorist acts in Europe during the past several years. The remedy is time-tested and straightforward. We merely require the will to apply it. Counter-terror lessons from America's Civil War | SpenglerPosted by gerardvanderleun at June 4, 2017 7:42 AM
Huh. The Nazis did the same thing in conquered territory. So did the Soviets.
But who were the terrorists? The snipers or the invaders? I've lived in the deep south, and I assure you Sherman isn't revered there for his skill at 'suppressing terrorism.'
Posted by: Joel at June 4, 2017 10:33 AMYeah but...we Americans also did that to German towns post War 2, except we used explosives.
Posted by: Frisco Scooter Trash at June 5, 2017 9:23 AMYeah, sorry; that approach didn't work and doesn't.
Bringing war crimes committed by Americans against Americans into the argument is far from persuasive.
Sherman waging war on women and children is the United States everlasting shame.
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