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, May 7, 2013

War News for Tuesday, May 07, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: Up to 11 civilians were wounded Tuesday in a bomb explosion in northern Afghan province of Faryab, authorities said. "An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attached to a motorcycle was detonated in Ganja Bazaar area of Qaisar district at around 10 a.m. local time, injuring 11 civilian men," the provincial governor Mohammadullah Baktash told Xinhua.

#2: A roadside bomb struck a police van in Ghazni province 125 km south of Kabul on Tuesday killing four policemen and injuring another, spokesman for provincial administration Nabi Jan said. "A mine planted by anti-government militants struck a police van on Jabarwal area outside provincial capital the Ghazni city this morning killing four personnel of Public Order Police and wounded another," Nabi Jan told Xinhua.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Eric D. Christian

DoD: Cpl. David M. Sonka

DoD: 1stLt. Brandon J. Landrum

DoD: Staff Sgt. Francis G. Phillips IV

DoD: Spc. Kevin Cardoza

DoD: Spc. Thomas P. Murach

DoD: Spc. Brandon J. Prescott

Posted by whisker at 4:11 AM

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