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, February 1, 2014

War News for Saturday, February 01, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan officials say a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in southern Afghanistan, killing four policemen. Zia Durrani, police spokesman for Kandahar Province, said Saturday that one policeman was also was wounded in the attack. The attack — which took place on Friday night — occurred in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar Province, near the border with Pakistan.

#2: At least four suspected militants were killed and 50 others rounded up in a targeted raid in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The operation carried out by police and security personnel is still in progress, Dawn online reported Saturday. Police officer Haji Khan said the raid was launched after security personnel received a tip off that militants had occupied a primary school in Swabi district.

#3: At least one child was killed when an Improvised Explosives Devices (IED) targeted a house in Chuhl Mitra area of the provincial capital, Jalalabad city, an official said Saturday.

#4: At least two militants were blown up by own explosives in southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan.

Posted by whisker at 3:11 AM

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