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, September 1, 2013

News of the Day for Sunday, September 1, 2013

Local civilians find the bodies of 7 Afghan soldiers in Ghazni province. The men had apparently been kidnapped at various times, then shot, and their bodies dumped in a common location.

The car of Lal Agha Kakar, a mayor in Nangarhar, is destroyed by a sticky bomb and his driver is seriously injured, in Jalalabad. Kakar was not in the vehicle. The story does not say of what city or town he is mayor. (After a quick search, I have not found the name of the mayor of Jalalabad, which seems the most logical guess.)

Local officials in Herat say the Afghan army killed 7 insurgents in a night-time action.

Truckers on the Kabul-Herat highway strike over deteriorating security. "The Kabul-Herat highway, particularly the area passing through Kandahar, has become the site of routine attacks by insurgents and Illegal Armed Groups (IAGs) against travellers, and most often oil tankers. In addition to being targeted by Taliban insurgents, striking drivers in Kabul said IAGs abduct people on the Kabul-Herat highway for ransom with impunity." They also complain of simple armed robbery.

A firefight is reported between security forces and would-be suicide bombers in Zabul. As of this report, the situation was unresolved. Four police and 4 civilians had been injured by gunfire; the insurgents are apparently holed up in a residence.

Karzai cans his interior minister for the second time in a year. The new IM, formerly ambassador to Pakistan, is presidential hopeful Umer Daudzai.

Eight mining workers are killed by a roadside bomb in Bagram, Parwan province, and four are injured.


Posted by Cervantes at 5:05 AM

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