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, February 19, 2017

Update for Sunday, February 19, 2017

Iraqi PM Abadi announces start of offensive to recapture western Mosul. Iraqi federal police are attacking from the south, attempting to capture the airport. Planes dropped millions of leaflets on the city announcing the offensive and calling on Jihadis to surrender.

They claim to have taken several villages to the south and west of the city.

People in areas retaken from IS are purging every remaining vestige of their presence, including destroying the homes of IS members and digging up their graves.

A British general predicts the fight for Mosul will take 3 months.

An Iraqi human rights organization says that people in western Mosul are starving and that they know of 25 children who starved to death in January.




Posted by Cervantes at 6:21 AM

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