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 9, 2010

War News for Thursday, December 09, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, December 9th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead Omar Jassim Mohammed, head of the auditing department in the Supreme Judiciary Council, in his car in Baghdad's southwestern Amil district on Wednesday, a source in the interior ministry said.

#2: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead an off-duty police captain on Wednesday in Baghdad's western district of Amiriya, a source in the interior ministry said.


Taji:
#1: Gunmen killed a member of a government-backed Sunni militia and wounded another when they attacked a security checkpoint in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, a source in the interior ministry said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Unknown armed men abducted 18 de-miners in Khost province east of Afghanistan on Thursday, police said.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Vincent W. Ashlock

DoD: Sgt. Jason D. Peto

Posted by whisker at 2:33 AM

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