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


Monday, October 14, 2013

War News for Monday, October 14, 2013


To Ousted Boss, Arms Watchdog Was Seen as an Obstacle in Iraq


Reported security incidents
#1: A labourer was killed and another wounded after explosives went off in village Kot Khaddak, 40 kilometres west from Tank on Saturday, police and hospital sources said. Two labourers Umar Khan and Yousaf, hailing from Afghanistan, were lifting a bundle of wood in a bricks factory near Chairman Adda in Village Kot-Khaddak when the explosive material, hidden in the wood bundle, went off.

#2: Four police personnel lost their lives as a roadside bomb organized by anti-government militants struck a police van in Taliban former stronghold the southern Kandahar province on Sunday, a local official said Monday. "A mine planted by militants on a road in Takhtapol district struck a police vehicle on Sunday evening leaving four border police personnel dead including Sediqullah, a checkpoint commander, " district governor Mahmoud Achakzai told Xinhua.

#3: Afghan national police backed by the army have killed 40 Taliban militants during a series of operations carried out across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday. The operations had covered Baghlan, Wardak, Logar, Kandahar, Ghazni, Nangarhar and Saripul provinces, during which 25 more militants sustained injuries and 13 others made captive, according to the ministry.

#4: A suicide bomber was killed in eastern Paktiya province of Afghanistan of Monday after he blown up himself inside a hospital in this province. Officials in the interior ministry of Afghanistan on Monday said that the suicide bomber was arrested along with his explosives by Afghan security forces. Sediq Sediq, spokesman for the interior ministry of Afghanistan said the suicide bomber was looking to start clashes with the Afghan security forces, but was injured after Afghan police opened fire on him. Mr. Sediqi further added that the suicide bomber was injured and was taken to hospital in Gadez city, where blew up himself

#5: According to local authorities in northern Parwan province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants fired at least 12 missiles on US-run Bagram airfield late Sunday night.

Posted by whisker at 3:30 AM

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