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, January 11, 2013

War News for Friday, January 11, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of a USFOR-A soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, January 10th.


Death toll from Pakistan bombings rises to 120

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2013/01/10/3460303/bomb-drone-attack-kill-17-people.html#storylink=cpy


Reported security incidents
#1: Up to five Afghan policemen were killed and five others wounded when Taliban militants launched armed attacks against checkpoints in the country’s western province Badghis, the provincial police chief said Friday. “Five members of Afghan National Police (ANP) were martyred and five were wounded as Taliban militants raided their posts in Abkamari and Muquar districts late Thursday night,” police chief Sharafuddin Sharaf told Xinhua. He said two militants were also killed in the brief battle in the province 555 km northwest of capital Kabul.

Posted by whisker at 4:34 AM

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