Kim A. Wagner

Bud Dajo, Jolo, 2022

In 2022, I visited the island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, and spent a night in the jungle at the site of the Bud Dajo Massacre - one of the worst atrocities in US history.

One thousand men, women and children were killed, which is more than Wounded Knee and My Lai combined.

On the 120th anniversary of the Bud Dajo Massacre, I'm reminded of what Michael Herr said about Americans and their relationship with the past:

'We’re not a great introspective people. It is not in our nature. We’re very ignorant of our history. We’re great perverters of our tradition.'

There is a strong sense of colonial continuity in the way that irregular warfare and guerilla forces are framed - but I'm not sure about explicit lessons...

The rule of colonial difference called...

The Terrifying New Era of American Imperialism Donald Trump's war against Iran is part of a terrifying new era of American imperialism, one in which the military budget never stops growing.

Interesting to read an article about the 'New Era of American Imperialism' in which the historical analysis doesn't stretch further back than the Second World War...
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www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

It was meant in a nice way

It was a light-hearted compliment, I think. There are indeed too many atrocities in this world for anyone to corner that market...

I very much don't think that is what the original post is saying. It's implying that AI can *replace* academics and that's simply nonsense...

I'm not convinced - if you're not a good writer, you can't tell what the machine is spitting out - and relying on AI for archival work is downright dangerous.

For sure - but these tools should not be mistaken for the capacity to undertake real research...

a man with a tattoo on his head is covering his mouth ALT: a man with a tattoo on his head is covering his mouth

Yesterday, a dear colleague referred to what she called my 'massacre monopoly'...and I don't know how to feel about that...

Definitely a coincidence that we're discussing 'Heart of Darkness' in my seminar on world book day.

One of my favourite (and thoroughly misleading) covers:

In five years we'll still be laughing at this dumbass-take...

When people think of themselves as the “good guys” regardless of the violence they inflict, there is ultimately no atrocity they are not willing to justify...

Busy month of book launches for @qmul.bsky.social colleagues! Leslie's book is 'The Moving Word: How the West African and Caribbean Press Shaped Black Political Thought', Matthew's is 'Charity After Empire: British Humanitarianism, Decolonisation and Development'

Your daily reminder that indiscriminate violence is a key defining feature of colonial warfare...

See also 'collateral damage' - it's a feature, not a bug.

Can someone please explain this to me? When exactly was this 'era of historic peace' that Trump is supposedly ending...?
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I'm deeply confused by this take - even if the attack was legal, we should still condemn it.

There was a time when slavery was legal and that does not affect how we view it.

But (il)legality is too often conflated with (im)morality, which is also why the language of 'war crimes' is so unhelpful.

Yup

Reagan on the My Lai Massacre

Today's find in the (online) archives: The Times, Trenton, N.J., Dec 3, 1969.

History of the senses meets the My Lai Massacre...

Staring in historian of atrocity photography...

I really wish they'd done a bit of research for this piece - it's an important topic and it's not as if there isn't a vast scholarship on the subject...😑

PS: Trump is *not* triggering mortality salience

Today I'm working on identifying the women and children in Ron Haeberle's colour-photo #18 taken along the trail just south of My Lai. Just read a witness statement where a farmer identifies 'the child with the buttocks showing' as his 1-year-old daughter Truong Thi Xi.

(Image is blurred)

Words to write by

Using a banana peel to explain to the 11-year-old how a dum-dum bullet works. #Parentmaxxing

A powerful note on which to end

Not sure why people are so upset about the Medal of Honor - it was awarded to soldiers who participated in some of the worst atrocities in US history, including Wounded Knee and Bud Dajo...