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, January 18, 2014

War News for Saturday, January 18, 2014


Limavady man one of 21 killed in Taliban attack in Kabul -- Simon Chase

Second Briton dead in Kabul blast -- Dhamender Singh Phangurha

2 Canadians among 21 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan  -- The dead at the La Taverna du Liban restaurant included the head of the International Monetary Fund in Afghanistan, three United Nations staff and a member of the European Police Mission in Afghanistan. -- Zahir and international officials said the dead included two Britons, two Canadians, a Dane, a Russian, two Lebanese, a Somali-American and a Pakistani.

Russian among Kabul attack victims --  V. Sh. Nazarov

Two Americans among 21 killed in Kabul blast

UN and IMF staff killed in Kabul restaurant attack -- Lebanese national Wabel Abdallah

2 American university employees among Kabul dead


Reported security incidents
#1: The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on Saturday for a deadly attack on a private television channel in the southern city of Karachi and threatened further violence against media outlets. A spokesman said in a statement that militants had attacked an Express News van on Friday night, killing three employees, because the station had acted as a "propagandist".

#2: At least one person was killed while four others injured Saturday afternoon as a blast occurred in Tirin Kot, the provincial capital of southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, a security source said. "An improvised explosive device (IED) attached to a motorbike parked near the provincial governor office in Tirin Kot was detonated while a vehicle of National Directorate for Security ( NDS) was passing by the area," the deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Aslam told Xinhua.

#3: At least 13 Taliban militants were killed and 2 others were injured during military operations by Afghan national security forces in various provinces of Afghanistan. The statement further added that the operations were conducted in Laghman, Kapisa, Zabul, Logar, Ghazni and Paktiya provinces of Afghanistan in past 24 hours.

#4: At least nine Taliban militants were killed following a US drone strike in eastern Nuristan province of Afghanistan, local security officials said.

Posted by whisker at 4:08 AM

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