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


Friday, December 27, 2013

War News for Friday, December 27, 2013


The military is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from a suicide vehicle born improvised explosive device in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, December 27th.


Reported security incidents
#1: A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle next to a Nato military convoy in Kabul on Friday, officials said, though no details about casualties were immediately available. The attack occurred on a main road that passes by a series of government compounds and military facilities in the Afghan capital on the way to the eastern city of Jalalabad.

#2-3: At least four civilians were killed or injured following separate blasts in southern Afghanistan on Thursday.

#3: In the meantime, two civilians were injured after a motorcycle packed with explosives went off in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan on Thursday.

#2: A kid was killed following a blast in Spin Boldak district of southern Kandahar province on Thursday afternoon. Zia Durani, spokesman for the provincial security department confirming the report said, another civilian was also injured in the blast.

#4: At least one person was killed and 15 others wounded when a bomb exploded in Pakistan's restive southwest on Thursday, officials said. The incident happened in Pashtunabad area on the outskirts of Quetta city.

#5: Afghan army special operation forces launched an operation in the country's eastern province of Laghman early Friday, killing eight Taliban insurgent group members while wounding one other rebel, a provincial government spokesman said.

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