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


Thursday, June 14, 2007

Civilian Damage

Civilian Damage in US Operation Against Mahdi Army Militia

Many civilian homes and buildings were allegedly set fire and destroyed by US-led Coalition forces on Friday in Baghdad, in an operation aiming at toppling the Shiite Mahdi Army militia, according to Iraqi security sources. This took place in May 2007.

Iraqis are speaking on the video, no translation provided.

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