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


Sunday, March 16, 2014

News of the Day for Sunday, March 16, 2014

Nine Afghan army officers are arrested for dereliction of duty or collusion with the Taliban in connection with the February attack in Kunar province that left 21 soldiers dead. The Khamaa news article is not clear about who is charged with what, but does say that 4 soldiers provided the Taliban with a map of the base, and that the commander was warned but ignored the information. (This is hardly the only indication we have had that the loyalty and competence of Afghan soldiers cannot be assumed.)

Presidential candidate Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak withdraws. He is a former Defense Minister and senior advisor to Hamid Karzai.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch says that Talban violence threatens to undermine the upcoming election.

Either 4 or 5 insurgents are arrested in Kandahar province. The headline says 4, the story says 5. Whatever.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, 15 people are killed in bombings in Baghdad on Saturday, 2 soldiers are killed in Mosul, 5 police and a civilian are killed in Ramadi, houses of 2 police officers are bombed near Fallujah, gunfight leaves 4 insurgents dead in Fallujah, and a Sahwa fighter and a civilian are killed in Maqdadiya. Oh yeah, proposed legislation, which appears to have the support of PM al-Maliki, would legalize marriage of girls as young as 8, forbid women to leave the house without their husbands' permission, allow polygamy --it was drafted by the Justice Ministry and has been approved by the cabinet. That regime change sure was a great idea.


Posted by Cervantes at 4:59 AM

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

and the US taxpayers are going to send more weapons to Iraq..... you know, just because we care (about corporate welfare for the military industries)

March 16, 2014 at 2:11 PM

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