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, April 21, 2013

News of the Day for Sunday, April 21, 2013

Taliban attack police checkpoint in Ghazni, kill 6 police officers. Dayak district governor Sayed Fazl Ahmad Tolwak says they had an insider accomplice, who escaped with the assailants.

Taliban amputate a hand and a foot of each of two employees of a private security company in Herat province, after abducting them and holding a trial. The company provides security services to ISAF logistics convoys; however the Taliban apparently accused the men of robbing travelers. The victims are currently hospitalized.

Thirty students of a girls' high school fall ill of apparent poisoning  in Takhar province, according to a Fars report quoting Xinhua. (Such incidents have occurred many times.) Khaama gives the number of victims as 48. A similar incident on Thursday affected 17 girls.

Four Pakistani soldiers are killed by a roadside bomb  in North Waziristan near the Afghan border.

Bombing in a bazaar in Paktika injures 9. (Consider that this is an everyday occurrence in Afghanistan; imagine the impact of a similar incident in the U.S.)

A large demonstrtion in Jalalabad calls for removal of Nangarhar governor Gul Agha Shirzai over allegations of corruption.

In and indication of the distrust between the neighboring countries, a Bakhtar editorial accuses Pakistan of deliberately fomenting insurgency in Wardoj district in order to disrupt economic development and maintain Afghanistan in an impoverished state. (I cannot comment on the veracity of this allegation. C)

A mass grave is found in Bagram district, probably a legacy of the Soviet occupation. (Just a reminder of the long history of war in Afghanistan.)

Interior ministry claims 10 insurgents killed in various operations in the past 24 hours.

Report by a private agency finds insurgent attacks up sharply this year.










Posted by Cervantes at 5:01 AM

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