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


Friday, September 8, 2017

Update for Friday, September 8, 2017

After 16 years, you would think the U.S. military would have learned at least a little something about Afghanistan. Taliban suicide attack at a control point near Bagram injures 3 U.S. soldiers and 3 Afghan soldiers, and kills an Afghan interpreter. The attack was advertised as a response to a leaflet dropped by U.S. forces in Parwan province.

The leaflet depicted a lion chasing a dog. Inscribed on the dog's side was the Shahada, the fundamental statement of the Islamic Creed, which may be translated as "There is no God but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God." The Shahada happens to be an element of the Taliban flag which is apparently why somebody thought this was a good idea.

Conflict takes a heavy toll on military hospital in Helmand where surgeons often work 24 hour shifts to keep up with the flow of injuries.

The U.S. is giving Afghanistan 150 MD530 F Cayuse Warrior light attack helicopters  at a cost of $1.38 billion. The usefulness of these machines has been questioned.

In Iraq,  civilians are fleeing ahead of an expected offensive against IS in Hawija.

Posted by Cervantes at 5:04 AM

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

Over 2,000 bodies recovered in western Mosul

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) More than 2,000 bodies of civilians were recovered since liberation of Mosul city, an Iraqi officer said on Friday.

“Rescue teams of Nineveh’s civil defense department have recovered more than 2,100 bodies of civilians from under the destroyed houses in the western side of Mosul, especially in the Old City,” Lt. Saad Hamed, an officer from the department, told Anadolu Agency.

The teams, according to Hamed, “face obstacles including logistic ones related to the equipments, as well as security issues regarding presence of tunnels and shelters where IS militants are still hiding.”

The recovery of bodies is expected to end in two months, Hamed said adding that between 400-500 bodies are likely to be still under the rubble, depending on the requests from families who inquire about bodies of their relatives.

Hamed did not mention the actual number of recovered bodies that belong to the militant group. He also did not discuss the mechanism of identifying bodies of civilians or militants.

The Defense Ministry’s War Media Cell, the official authority tasked with declaring information about the war against IS, said on July 20 that 1,429 civilians and 30,000 militants were killed during the campaign.

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/2000-civilians-bodies-recovered-western-mosul-officer/

September 9, 2017 at 6:10 PM

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