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


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

War News for Tuesday, October 02, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 2nd.


U.S. Abandoning Hopes for Taliban Peace Deal


Reported security incidents
#1: Up to 25 Taliban militants have been killed in different Afghan provinces within the past 24 hours, authorities said on Tuesday. "Afghan police, army and the NATO-led coalition forces launched 10 joint cleanup operations in Kabul, Nangarhar, Laghman, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Khost and Helmand provinces, killing 14 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 30 others over the past 24 hours," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement presenting daily operational updates.
 
#2: Separately, up to 11 Taliban were killed in a blast in southern Kandahar province overnight, the provincial government said in a statement on Tuesday morning. "A powerful blast took place in a weapon and ammunition reserve, killing 11 militants on the spot in the Kanjoso area of Spin Boldak district bordering Pakistan late Monday night," the statement said, adding that two local Taliban commanders were among the dead.

Posted by whisker at 3:35 AM

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