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


Thursday, December 12, 2013

War News for Thursday, December 12, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: An accidental detonation of explosives stored in an Afghan facility beside the U.S. embassy in Kabul sparked a brief panic early on Thursday, triggering concerns of an attack, but no immediate reports of casualties. The blast happened about 10.30 a.m. (0600GMT), and the U.S. embassy's alarm was heard blaring across the diplomatic area of the Afghan capital immediately afterwards.

A blast in a warehouse of Afghanistan's National Directorate for Security (NDA) or national spy agency caused panic among the people on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

#2: Gun battle between security forces and Taliban militants in Badakhshan province left 17 insurgents dead, provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adeen said Thursday. "The conflict which erupted in Jarm district on Wednesday and was over today (Thursday) have left 17 Taliban rebels dead,"Adeeb told Xinhua. He also admitted that two policemen were killed and two others sustained injuries during the two-day gun battle.

Posted by whisker at 4:38 AM

2 comments:

Cervantes said...

Oy vey:

"SANAA — Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday."

That was by a drone. Your tax dollars at work. Who is the terrorist, again?

December 12, 2013 at 10:43 AM
Anonymous said...

Wow. Ths war is ridiculous. Send our troops home abd stop killing people geezzzz

December 17, 2013 at 10:45 AM

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