Lessons from a War Without End

[georgephillip]

"No matter how long it lasts, America’s war for the Greater Middle East will end in failure. And when it does, Americans will discover that it was also superfluous."

So ends Professor Andrew J. Bacevich's short opinion piece in the Washington Post entitled, "Even if we defeat the Islamic State, we'll lose the bigger war."

Colonel Bacevich begins by listing the 14 Muslim countries the US has "invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed" since 1980.

"Let’s tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria.

"Whew.

"With our 14th front barely opened, the Pentagon foresees a campaign likely to last for years. Yet even at this early date, this much already seems clear:

"Even if we win, we lose.

"Defeating the Islamic State would only commit the United States more deeply to a decades-old enterprise that has proved costly and counterproductive."

Of course not all Americans lose equally.
While some lose their lives, limbs, and minds, others gain a lavish lifestyle from investments in mass murder on the opposite side of the globe from their families.

The American Nightmare without end?

Even if we defeat the Islamic State we ll still lose the bigger war - The Washington Post

 

[georgephillip]

Let's blame Jimmy

"Back in 1980, President Jimmy Carter touched things off when he announced that the United States would use force to prevent the Persian Gulf from falling into the wrong hands.

"In effect, with the post-Ottoman order created by European imperialists — chiefly the British — after World War I apparently at risk, the United States made a fateful decision: It shouldered responsibility for preventing that order from disintegrating further.

"Britain’s withdrawal from 'east of Suez,' along with the revolution in Iran and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, prompted Washington to insert itself into a region in which it previously avoided serious military involvement."

Even if we defeat the Islamic State we ll still lose the bigger war - The Washington Post

 

[georgephillip]

After the midterms...
"President Barack Obama has said the deployment of 1,500 more US troops to Iraq marks a 'new phase' against Islamic State militants.

"He told CBS TV that the new troops, although non-combat advisers, could help Iraq go on the attack against IS.

"A US-led coalition has been helping Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces with hundreds of air strikes since August.

"Iraqi forces have now reportedly seized large parts of Baiji - home to Iraq's biggest oil refinery - from IS.

"Officials said troops now controlled some 50% of the town, about 200km (130 miles) north of the capital Baghdad."

Whatever your opinion of Obama's decision to send another 1500 boots-on-the-ground to Iraq, how would it change if Wikileaks revealed the CIA created IS in the same way it created al-Qaeda and the Taliban?

BBC News - Obama signals new phase against Islamic State in Iraq