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


Saturday, November 2, 2013

War News for Saturday, November 02, 2013


Pakistan on high alert after Taliban leader killed by US drone strike

US-led soldier dies in eastern Afghanistan: ISAF

How the Pakistani Taliban Became a Deadly Force


Reported security incidents
#1: Local residents told AFP that dozens of tribesmen and militants had opened fire on a US drone which was flying low in the same area where the Taliban chief was killed. “Tribesmen and militants were firing with light and heavy guns for an hour,” Tariq Khan, a shopkeeper in Miranshah told AFP.

#2: Afghan police backed by the army have killed 17 Taliban fighters during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. According to the statement, the operations were carried out in Ghor, Farah, Herat, Paktiya, Khost, Maidan Wardak, Uruzgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Balkh, Parwan and Nangarhar provinces

#3: According to reports, a suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan security forces in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

Posted by whisker at 4:21 AM

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