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, August 13, 2013

War News for Tuesday, August 12, 2013


Al-Qaeda expands in Syria via Islamic State


Reported security incidents
#1: A bomb blast killed a public representative and injured his three friends as they visited a cemetery in the southern city of Kandahar, police said on Tuesday.

#2: Police have found eight bodies in Ghanzi province some 120 km south of Kabul, a local official said Tuesday. Our police found eight bodies from Muqar district Monday night, and all the victims apparently are civilians," deputy to provincial governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told Xinhua.

#3: Two Taliban militants were killed and two others injured as clash flared up in Ghormach district, Faryab province Monday night, a local official said Tuesday. The clash, according to Mohammad Reza, occurred when Taliban militants opened fire on a police patrol and police returned fire killing two militants on the spot and injuring two others. There were no casualties on police, he added. #4: Fourteen militants have been killed in separate cleanup operations across Afghanistan over the last 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Tuesday morning. "In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several cleanup operations with the support of army, NDS or intelligence service and Coalition Forces in Ghazni, Kandahar, Kunduz and Balkh provinces, as a result 14 armed Taliban were killed, three wounded and two others were arrested," the ministry said in a statement.


US/DoD: Staff Sgt. Octavio Herrera

US/DoD: Sgt. Jamar A. Hicks

US/DoD: Spc. Keith E. Grace Jr.

Posted by whisker at 4:36 AM

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