Today in The Endless War: Five Years of War

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

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Five Years of War

With the 5th Anniversary of start of the war in Iraq approaching we all need to take a moment to think about what this war has cost us: Almost 4,000 American lives, Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths, and $275 million every single day.

This anniversary of the war let your voice be heard and join one of the actions going on across the country. Visit 5yearstoomany.org for more information and to sign up for an event. - Ava Lowery