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


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

War News for Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in the area of Kakaran north east of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 15th.


Afghan-Canadian dies in mosque attack

Last six Dutch soldiers leave Kunduz, Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: According to local authorities in southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, a suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan police forces before the suspected bomber managed to carry out suicide attack. Spokesman for the provincial security department, Farid Ayel confirming the report said the suicide bomber was shot dead late Tuesday in Tarinkot city.

Posted by whisker at 4:37 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)