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
PHOTO: A man cleans up the offices of the Iraqi Council for National Dialogue, a major Sunni political group, in western 
13 comments:
welcome to our new blog. The truth is - we don't know what we are going to do yet. zig, cervantes and I do not want to work on Mark's new blog, and we are upset that yankeedoodle (along with the rest of us) do not have administrative or posting privileges).
zig is probably very burnt out from all the posting he has done - he really kept Today in Iraq going - with cervantes and I only stepping up one day a week.
I have decided, for now, to post a "security incidents" for the day. I will be posting this late in the day, possibly even a day or two late, if I don't have time to do it on that date.
We are considering doing occasional smaller posts about news items and analysis - when we have time. We are certainly open to having some more volunteer posters join us.
Right now, I am off to do a rant on my own personal blog - and Daily Kos - about our out-of-control government..... and how so few Americans are doing anything to stop them. (I am trying - but nothing has worked so far!)
one thing to note in today's security incidents - the US forces went after two political parties in Baghdad, trashing one office and burning another.... how they think this will ever lead to stability I don't know....
So glad I found you guys. Do you mind if I post a diary about the situation at Dailykos? I am sure there are others that miss Today in Iraq as much as me.
Also, not to start lobbing suggestions while you are just getting started, but perhaps it would be better if just the first word of each story was a hyperlink, rather than the entire excerpt? The orange text is very hard to read (on my monitor at least).
I don't think I could reliably commit to a regular volunteer schedule, but hopefully there is something I can help with. I can produce graphics if you foresee a need.
This blog is very important and it should continue.
Yes we all had issues with the new setup. So we decided try a fresh start from scratch. The old blog is screwed but I would hope someone could direct the readers here.
E
By all means, post a Kos diary. You don't have to say much except that we're here now. We don't have access to the old TiI site so we are unable to post a notice there.
whisker,
I left the URL to here in my last post there...before the comments section was shut down too.
I'm glad to hear you're all here and that you'll try to continue this really important work.
TiI was without a doubt the nets most important real information about the Iraq occupation.
I bet it helped to make a lot of people aware of realities.
It's ironic that anti-war forces actually managed to make Bush happy. Very sad.
I just want to add...
Mark should let everyone know if he plans to continue TiI and if not ...put a large notice up directing people here.
It's the only decent thing to do!
And he SHOULD do it now!
Please continue. it seems that mfi's site has stopped.
I wanted again to express my support.
I am somewhat surprised at the disagreement. I loved the old TiI; it was a necessary support for my day, having worked so long in and on Iraq. I wanted to know what's going to happen to a country with which I have such a close relationship.
Peter will you give me a shout off blog please.
E
I am glad I found you again. While I do not post much, I do read you daily (well - not the last 4 days) and I feel you are doing a necessary and valuable service.
whisker,
"Peter will you give me a shout off blog please."
Yes but how?
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