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


Wednesday, February 6, 2008

View from Mosul

Whisker asked me to post this story and video from NBC News. I agree, it's bucking the current corporate media trend of telling us how we're winning. Excerpt from story:

NBC's Richard Engel is in the middle of an interview with one member of the Army's 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment when their combat outpost in Mosul comes under attack. Engel and the soldier he is interviewing -- both outfitted in helmets and body armor -- flinch as the first bullets fly toward the makeshift base.

"It's clear the war here is as intense as ever," Engel says, narrating his piece.

He asks the soldier if the attacks are a "constant problem."

"Yes," the soldier says grimly.

A 10-man team of insurgents attacked the base, and the US troops fan across the city searching for them. They come up empty-handed as visibly frightened residents of the city nonetheless offer no cooperation to the Army.

As al Qaeda insurgents have been driven out of Anbar provence, they have apparently regrouped and found a foothold in Mosul, a crumbling, depressed citiy in northern Iraq. The city also apparently has provided a cache of new recruits for the insurgency.

Over the several days Engel spends in Mosul, the soldiers face several attacks from insurgents, using guns and improvised explosive devices to target the US troops before they slip back into the general population.

Sgt. Robert Johnson, on his third tour in Iraq, "says Mosul is more dangerous now, than when he was here two years ago," according to Engel.

"After this, I don't want to come over here no more," Johnson says. After tours lasting nine, 16 and 15 months, "my body is getting weary."


You'll need flash player to see the video, it's embedded in the story.

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