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, March 10, 2013

News of the Day for Sunday, March 10, 2013

Prominent Afghan actor Nazar Mohammad Majnonyar Helmandi is killed by a NATO airstrike as he is being held by militants. According to his brother, Helmandi had gone to a town near Lashkargah to visit his ailing sister when he was seized on suspicion of spying for the government, and he was being interrogated when the attack occurred. (His films have concerned the conflict against the drug trade and insurgency.) Three insurgents were also killed in the attack.

President Karzai says that a university student was seized and interrogated by an armed group working for the CIA. Karzai says he intervened with the CIA to obtain the young man's release, and that he has banned "foreign forces" from universities. Anonymous sources confirmed to AP that the CIA has trained "an Afghan counterterrorist force." The Reuters report further suggests that abuse and arrest of university students by this shadowy force is commonplace. The Council of Ministers issued a statement saying, "We notify the international coalition force's leadership to avoid such acts which are against Afghanistan's national sovereignty."

Karzai further accuses the U.S. and Taliban of collusion. He says they are holding negotiations in Qatar without Afghan involvement; and furthermore that the motive for ongoing Taliban attacks is to provide a pretext for U.S. forces to remain in the country. Karzai said in a speech that "The blasts indeed show support for the Americans to stay in Afghanistan after 2014. Yesterday's bombings in Khost and Kabul were not aimed at showing their strength to the USA but to serve the USA." (Whoa! One is inclined to think that when the history of this conflict is written, it won't resemble the official story being channeled to us by the corporate media today. -- C)

U.S. Central Command removes reports of drone strikes from its monthly air power summaries. "

Last October, the Air Force began releasing the monthly totals of strikes in Afghanistan in an effort to give the public more information on its overseas operations. But the move appears to have been reversed. The February numbers released March 7th just contain empty boxes for the drone strike data, and all of the previous data has also been deleted from older press releases on the site," according to Khaama.





Posted by Cervantes at 5:27 AM

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