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


Friday, May 25, 2012

War News for Friday, May 25, 2012


NATO soldier killed following roadside bomb explosion - Improvised explosive device explosion kill NATO service member in southern Afghanistan on Thursday.

US Cuts Pakistan Aid

U.S. House reviews overbilling by Afghan contractor

French President in Afghanistan to Meet With Karzai‎


Reported security incidents
#1: Fareed Ayal, a spokesman for the police in Uruzgan province, says a police vehicle hit a roadside mine Friday in Chora district, killing one police inspector and wounding two other policeman.

#2: Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman in Helmand province, says a roadside bomb struck a bus the same day in Gereskh district. Two civilians died and four others were injured. He says the bomb was planted near a NATO supply site in an apparent attempt to target foreign troops.

#3: In Kandahar province, police chief Gen. Abdul Razaq says a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in Spin Boldak district Friday, wounding one border policeman and two civilians.
#4: Four Taliban fighters were killed during gunfight in Balkh province Thursday, an official said. The Balkh police chief, Asmatullah Alizai, showed four bodies to reporters and said they were killed in a clash on Tashqurghan-Kunduz highway in Koh-e-Kanda area of Khulm district. He said the dead Taliban also included their commander, Faiz Muhammad alias Faizak. They had planned to attack logistic convoy of the foreign forces on Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul highway, he added.


DoD: 2nd Lt. Travis A. Morgado

Posted by whisker at 2:59 AM

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