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, September 17, 2013

War News for Tuesday, September 17, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: Fourteen people including eight Taliban fighters were killed in clashes in parts of Faryab province on Monday night, a local official said Tuesday. "Units of the national army in coordination with police raided Taliban hideouts in Qaisar and Ghormach district Monday night, and during the operation which lasted for a few hours, eight Taliban militants including their commander Mohammad Rahim had been killed and several others sustained injuries," an army spokesman in the province, Mohammad Reza told Xinhua. He also confirmed that five local police and an army soldier had lost their live in the clash in Faryab province with Maimana as its capital, which is 425 km northwest of Kabul.

Posted by whisker at 3:51 AM

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