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


Thursday, December 10, 2015

Update for Thursday, December 10, 2015


Omar Al Saleh, in al Jazeera, discusses the row over the Turkish troop presence in Iraq .in the context of Iraq's overall sovereignty. He notes that the complaint by Abadi is somewhat disingenuous given the presence of Iranian and U.S. troops, which do not answer to Iraqi command, and Turkeys long campaign within Iraq against the PKK. The weakness of the Iraqi state is the real story here.

More clarity about the campaign in Ramadi as Iraqi force display a huge haul of weapons captured from IS in the city. There now appear to be only about 300 IS fighters trapped in one part of the city and cut off from reinforcement or resupply. An  additional, and important piece of information, is that some 8,500 Sunni Arab fighters from Anbar participated in the campaign.

[Muhannad Haimour, the spokesman for the Anbar governor's office] said the decision to arm Sunni tribal fighters from Ramadi against ISIS - which claims to be a Sunni group - was a key factor that changed the sluggish pace of the battle. He said: 'They didn't feel like they had enough support from the coalition and the central government, but all of that changed a few months ago.' There are now 8,500 members from Anbar organised, trained, armed and receiving salaries.

KRG president Barzani returns from Turkey and urges Turkey to continue negotiations with its own Kurdish parties to reach an accord.



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