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, May 3, 2016

Update for Tuesday, May 3, 2016

A U.S. service member is killed by enemy fire near Erbil. While CentCom has not identified the military branch of the deceased, given the location it is likely army special forces. Update: Sorry, Navy SEAL. The death result from direct fire after IS fighters got behind peshmerga front lines.

The Iraqi government is holding some 1,000 people in appalling conditions, without charges, in Anbar. They were essentially arrested because they were found in villages that had been held by IS. The Shiite-led Iraqi government continues to regard all Sunni Arabs in IS-held territory as suspects, making eventual reconciliation unlikely.

Iraqi forces relieve the siege of Haditha, after 18 months.

Human rights watch strongly criticizes the Iraqi government's closure of al Jazeera's Iraq bureau.

Security in the capital is extremely tight as Shiite pilgrims mark the martyrdom of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. In spite of the tight security,  an attack on Monday killed 18 pilgrims.

In Afghanistan (I have to link to this because believe it or not it is the biggest news out of the country), a little boy who became famous after he was photographed wearing a homemade Lionel Messi jersey has been forced to leave the country with his family due to threats.

Low-level fighting continues around the country, I'll post tomorrow a representative sample of what is being reported.


Posted by Cervantes at 6:23 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)