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


Saturday, March 2, 2013

War News for Saturday, March 02, 2013


blog:  How the US Decides Drone-kill People when it Doesn’t Know Who they Are (Currier)


Reported security incidents

#1: A suicide attack on the 205th Atal Military Corps headquarters was foiled in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province on Saturday, an official said. The incident took place around 11am, Corps Commander Brig. Gen. Syed Waqif Shah said. The attacker exploded his explosive vest when security guards opened fire at him. As result of the explosion, the bomber was killed and one security guard wounded, the commander said.
 
#2: update Australian soldiers in southern Afghanistan shot dead two children tending cattle, local officials said on Saturday as the international coalition launched an inquiry into the incident. The two children, aged seven and eight, were killed on Thursday morning as Australian soldiers fought back after a Taliban attack in southern Uruzgan province, said provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada.
 
#3: Insurgents shot and killed two policemen at a market place in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said. A police statement said the assailants fled after Saturday’s attack near a bus stop in Handwara, a town 90 kilometres north of Srinagar.

Posted by whisker at 4:29 AM

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