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, February 20, 2014

War News for Thursday, February 20, 2014


Police identify 2 Americans found dead on Maersk Alabama -- 'Captain Phillips' ship -- The two men worked for Trident Group, a Virginia-based maritime security services firm. The company's president, Tom Rothrauff, said the men were former Navy SEALs.


Reported security incidents
#1: Pakistani air force jets bombed militant hideouts in the country's volatile northwest Thursday, officials said, after government efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban broke down earlier this week. A Pakistani military official and two intelligence officers said Thursday that 15 suspected militants were believed to have been killed in the air strikes. The air strikes hit villages in the North Waziristan tribal region late Wednesday, a hotbed of militant activity that borders Afghanistan to the west, as well as the Khyber tribal region on Thursday morning.

#2: A suicide bomber was killed and one person injured when a blast rocked Kabul Thursday, the country's interior ministry said in a statement released here. A man who strapped an explosive device to his body blew himself up in Charahi Sarsabzi area at 9.15 a.m. today. Meanwhile, an eye witness speaking on condition of anonymity disputed the claim of the interior ministry, insisting two persons were killed and four others were injured in the suicide attack that caused panic among the war weary Afghans.

#3: The ministry of interior on Thursday in a statement quoted a Dr. Abdullah’s campaigner, Fazel Sancharaki as rejecting any insurgents’ armed attack on his convoy in eastern Nangarhar province. The ministry said the incident took place at about 4:40pm in Kulkin Tonal area on the Sarubi-Kabul highway, where the assailants were forced to leave the area after failing to impose life loss on a district police convoy patrolling the site.

Posted by whisker at 3:58 AM

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