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


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

News of the Day for Wednesday, July 3, 2013

(Whisker is traveling in remote realms today so I'm filling in. -- C)

U.S. air strike kills at least 16 in Pakistan. The dead are "suspected" of being members of the Haqqani Network. The Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry condemns the strike as counterproductive.

Afghan army chief of staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi says Pakistan controls the Afghan Taliban and could end the war in weeks if it wanted to. (Ouch!)

Court reverses the conviction of three men who had tortured a female relative because she refused to become a prostitute:

As word spread in Kabul on Wednesday, Western officials said they were still gathering details but would probably have a response in the coming days. Afghan women’s rights activists reacted with alarm, and said they would press to have the three defendants retried.
“There’s smoke coming out of my hair. I am so angry,” said Manizha Naderi, the executive director of Women for Afghan Women. “This poor girl was in the basement for months. If she wasn’t rescued, she would be dead. She was starved and burned and had her fingernails pulled out. How is this not attempted murder?”

Human rights advocates in Afghanistan and abroad condemn Karzai's latest appointments  to the Human Rights Commission, as International donors meet with Afghan officials to assess progress on the so-called Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework regarding human rights, corruption and good governance. Donors reaffirm commitment of $16 billion but express "concerns."

Taliban kill 3 Indian guest workers in Kabul.




Posted by Cervantes at 10:52 AM

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