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 22, 2013

News of the Day for Sunday, September 22, 2013

Three NATO troops are killed on an Afghan army base in Gardez by a man wearing the uniform of the "Afghan National security forces," according to a NATO statement. Gardez, Paktia province, is the site of continued fighting. All NATO forces in the area are U.S.

The Afghan National Directorate of Security claims it has foiled a plot to murder MP Ustad Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf. He is an Islamist who is running for president. The plotters were Taliban, according to NDS.

Pakistani officials say a rocket fired from Afghanistan killed 1 person and injured another in North Waziristan.

Taliban second in command Mullah Baradar is released from detention in Pakistan. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the move as a step toward peace negotiations. However, some Afghan politicians oppose the move.

Fighting in Nangarhar is said to kill 4 insurgents. No word about government casualties (as usual).

DoD identifies Staff Sgt. Timothy Raymond McGill, of Ramsey, New Jersey, a member of the Rhode Island National Guard, as killed in action on Saturday.

And meanwhile, back in Iraq: Triple bomb attack on a funeral in Sadr City kills at least 65; hundreds injured. Four police killed, 16 injured in bomb attack on a checkpoint south of Mosul. Four residences are blown up in southern Mosul injuring 7. Two young men killed by silenced weapons in eastern Baghdad, 2 unidentified bodies found in northern Baghdad. Suicide attack on police HQ in Baiji kills 6 police. Let us all pause to thank George W. Bush for bringing the light of democracy and civic order to the long-suffering people of Iraq.

Posted by Cervantes at 4:56 AM

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