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, February 12, 2013

War News for Tuesday, February 12, 2013


Afghan officials acknowledge prisoner torture


Reported security incidents
#1: Security forces have killed 11 Taliban militants in different provinces within the last 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. "Afghan police, army and intelligence agency in partnership with the NATO-led coalition forces conducted six cleanup operations in Kapisa, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak and Paktiya provinces, killing 11 armed Taliban militants and detaining nine others," the ministry said in a statement, adding two militants were wounded in the raids.
#2: An Afghan soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast while patrolling eastern Nangarhar province, local officials said. One other soldier was injured in the blast. The blast took place in Memla area of Khogyani district while the soldiers were on foot patrol. The roadside bomb exploded, killing a solder and injured another, provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzaid said.

Posted by whisker at 4:38 AM

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