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, January 8, 2014

War News for Wednesday, January 08, 2014


Obama lost faith in Afghan strategy, Gates’ memoir says

PAKISTAN: Balochistan; 160 persons extra judicially killed, 510 disappeared and 50 decomposed bodies were found during 2013

Iraqi prime minister says victory certain as Falluja assault looms

In Iraqi City Under Siege, More Support for Militants Than Officials


Reported security incidents
#1: A policeman was killed and another injured when unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire at a police check post in northwest Pakistan today. The incident occurred in a posh locality of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province. Unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on the check post in which a head constable was killed instantly while another received serious injuries, police sources said.

#2: Earlier in the morning, a Station House Officer (SHO) and two other police personnel were injured when some unidentified assailants opened fire on the SHO's vehicle in Peshawar.

#3: Five rebels were killed in own mine blast in southern province of Kandahar, an official said Tuesday adding all were Taliban planning to hide the explosives on the way to target military vehicles.

#4: Units of Afghan police backed by the army have killed seven Taliban militants during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here Wednesday.

#5: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Pakistani military has fired at least ten artillery shells in this province. Mr. Syed Khel further added that the shelling started late Tuesday night and continued until early Wednesday morning.

#6: An explosion was heard in capital Kabul on Wednesday morning, in the 8th district of Kabul city. Officials in the interior ministry of Afghanistan confirmed that the blast in capital Kabul was due to controlled explosion by Afghan security forces. 

#7: National Directorate of Security (NDS) foiled a plot to assassinate a senior Afghan intelligence official in capital Kabul.

Posted by whisker at 4:04 AM

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