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


Sunday, September 2, 2012

News of the Day for Sunday, September 2, 2012

Pro-government militia kills 8 civilians, after mistakenly blaming them for a Taliban attack that killed one of their members. In addition to the 8 deaths, from 3 to 8 people were injured, depending on accounts. The incident took place near Kunduz. Authorities are seeking the commander, known as Qadeer.

U.S. suspends training of Afghan Local Police, will "re-vet" 16,000 current members of the force, in response to recent attacks on ISAF forces. Although the Afghan army is implicated in 19 of 34 such attacks this year, their training will continue.

ISAF says the double suicide attack in Wardak on Saturday was the work of the Haqqani network.

Taliban deny responsibility for the beheading of a 12 year old boy in Kandahar province last week, apparently intended as a warning to his brother who was collaborating with the police.

NATO soldier dies in a non-combat related incident. As usual, no further information as of now.

ISAF arrests a member of the Afghan National Police who killed two NATO troops in May. He was apparently trying to join the army at the time of his arrest. (That's rather audacious.) He is said to have been a Taliban infiltrator.

And a personal comment: Something extraordinary happened in Tampa on Thursday. A man accepted a major party's nomination to be president of the United States, at a time when almost 70,000 American troops are fighting a war in a distant land -- the longest war in our nation's history. He did not mention it, even once. What has become of this nation, when such a thing can happen?






Posted by Cervantes at 5:07 AM

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