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 8, 2015

A Brief Update for Sunday, March 8, 2015

A Canadian special forces soldier is killed in a friendly fire incident on Friday, in Nineveh province. According to Peshmerga sources, a group of Canadian soldiers showed up unannounced in the village of Bashiq, the scene of recent heavy fighting. When asked to identify themselves, they answered in Arabic, whereupon Peshmerga opened fire.

The dead soldier is Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron. Three others were wounded. The Canadian military has offered no explanation for the soldiers' actions.

In other news, old friend Muqtada al-Sadr has condemned a visit by U.S. ambassador Stuart Jones to the shrine of Imam Ali. Al-sadr "described the American ambassador as a terrorist and said the US is the main factor behind the suffering, destruction and terrorism that Iraqis are going through."

Posted by Cervantes at 6:27 AM

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