Dumb American Military Missteps So Far This Century (Commentary)

U.S. Army Sgt. Dale Fletcher, left, hands a hammer to U.S. Army Spc. Justin Calhoun during the construction of living quarters for soldiers on Forward Operating Base Lightning in Paktya province, Afghanistan, Sept. 22, 2013. Fletcher and Calhoun, combat engineers, are assigned to the Kentucky National Guard's 149th Vertical Construction Company. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Justin A. Moeller

Eight Exceptional(ly Dumb) American Military Missteps So Far This Century -- Tom Engelhardt, Mother Jones

The invasion of Iraq as only the tip of the iceberg

This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.

"But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act. That's what makes America different. That's what makes us exceptional. With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth."

—Barack Obama, address to the nation on Syria, September 10, 2013

Let's be Americans, which means being exceptional, which also means being honest in ways inconceivable to the rest of humanity. So here's the truth of it: the American exceptionalism sweepstakes really do matter. Here. A lot.

Barack Obama is only the latest in a jostling crowd of presidential candidates, presidential wannabes, major politicians, and minor figures of every sort, not to speak of a raging horde of neocons and pundits galore, who have felt compelled in recent years to tell us and the world just how exceptional the last superpower really is. They tend to emphasize our ability to use this country's overwhelming power, especially the military variety, for the global good—to save children and other deserving innocents. This particularly American aptitude for doing good forcibly, by killing others, is considered an incontestable fact of earthly life needing no proof. It is well known, especially among our leading politicians, that Washington has the ability to wield its military strength in ways that are unimaginably superior to any other power on the planet.

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My Comment: Not a fan of Mother Jones/Tom Dispatch .... but aside from Tom Engelhardt comments on American exceptionalism (which he clearly does not understand .... and my explanation on American exceptionalism is here) I find the rest of his post accurate on the multi-billions that have been wasted in trying to transform societies like Iraq and Afghanistan.