The present-day U.S. military qualifies by any measure as highly professional, much more so than its Cold War predecessor. Yet the purpose of today’s professionals is not to preserve peace but to fight unending wars in distant places. Intoxicated by a post-Cold War belief in its own omnipotence, the United States allowed itself to be drawn into a long series of armed conflicts, almost all of them yielding unintended consequences and imposing greater than anticipated costs. Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. forces have destroyed many targets and killed many people. Only rarely, however, have they succeeded in accomplishing their assigned political purposes. . . . [F]rom our present vantage point, it becomes apparent that the “Revolution of ‘89” did not initiate a new era of history. At most, the events of that year fostered various unhelpful illusions that impeded our capacity to recognize and respond to the forces of change that actually matter.

Andrew Bacevich


Saturday, April 7, 2007

Administrative Statement

As you will no doubt discover for yourselves, we have now installed Haloscan commenting. Our apologies for any earlier comments that have been lost, but we feel this makes commenting easier and also makes it easier for us to deal with problems.

In coming days, we will continue to build the site with resource links and a blogroll. Please feel free to offer suggestions and constructive reviews. And we're glad you found us here.

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