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


Sunday, March 26, 2017

Update for Sunday, March 26, 2017


As Iraqi forces recapture more of western Mosul, past incidents of civilian deaths in airstrikes are revealed. Here, al Jazeera reports on a neighborhood where three air strikes killed at least 37 civilians on January 11. The target, a single IS leader, escaped.

Another air strike on March 17 may have killed 200 civilians. (Watch out for autoplay video in this link.) U.S. military acknowledges it did carry out strikes in that area on that date.

IS shelling also kills civilians.

Air strikes targeting IS leaders continue.

Iraq pauses offensive over concern for civilian casualties.

With little public notice, U.S. has deployed an additional 500 troops to Syria.

New York Times calls on Congress to reclaim its constitutional power over war and peace and to pass legislation authorizing, and presumably limiting, the war against IS.

More than just a political endorsement of the troops, however, a new authorization of force could make Congress seriously debate how the rest of the war against ISIS will be fought, and to consider a crucial decision the administration must make soon on whether to arm Syrian Kurds for the Raqqa fight and risk alienating Turkey, a NATO ally.
Congressional inaction may invite an even bigger problem. The Trump administration intends to bring future ISIS detainees to the Guantánamo Bay prison. Once that happens, as the former Bush administration lawyer Jack Goldsmith wrote on the Lawfare blog, court challenges could lead to findings that the war against ISIS is unlawful.





Posted by Cervantes at 5:26 AM

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

and the wars go on forever and the bombings never end.......

March 27, 2017 at 6:17 PM

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