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, November 20, 2013

War News for Thursday, November 20, 2013


US not to target Taliban holding talks: Sartaj Aziz

Afghans Demand That U.S. Admit Military Errors

US officials rejects reports of apology to Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan district police chief was killed in an ambush by militants in the volatile southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, officials said. Tooryalai Khan, police chief of Helmand’s Marjah district, was leading an operation against Taliban insurgents in the area when he was ambushed early in the morning, said provincial spokesman Omar Zewak. His bodyguard was wounded in the attack.

#2: Three security personnel were killed and seven injured on Wednesday when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a security check post in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan region. "The security personnel detailed at the check post in Shawa area of Mir Ali town fired at a speeding vehicle when they spotted it approaching them," a senior security official told Anadolu Agency, wishing not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "However, the suicide bomber managed to hit the check post," he added.

a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into a security checkpoint as militants armed with guns stormed a nearby building in Shawa area of North Waziristan tribal district, killing two personnel, officials said. The post is run jointly by the paramilitary Frontier Corps and tribal police and the adjacent building houses more than 40 security forces. "The attack was successfully thwarted and four militants were killed in the retaliatory fire by police," Sajjad Khan, district police chief told the media.

#3: A suicide bomber who was looking to assassinate Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Razaq, was shot dead by Afghan security forces.

Posted by whisker at 4:18 AM

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