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, March 27, 2014

War News for Thursday, March 27, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: Defense ministry spokesman, Gen. Zahir Azimi said Thursday that two Afghan national army soldiers were martyred following improvised explosive devive (IED) explosion. Gen. Azimi further added that another Afghan national army (ANA) soldier was martyred in militants’ direct fire. He did not disclose further information regarding the exact locations of the incident.

#2: Unidentified miscreants fired shots at polio vaccination team today, killing two people including a policeman who was providing security to a team of anti-polio health in Ratodero, sub-division of Larkana District in the Sindh province, officials said. Police officials said the attack took place when gunmen fired at anti-polio-vaccination team at Ratodero, stronghold of Pakistan Peoples Party.

#3: Seven militants were killed in Afghanistan within the last 24 hours, the authorities said Thursday.

#4: A group of militants ambushed a vehicle convoy of an Afghan lawmaker in western Herat province of Afghanistan, local officials said. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in Robat Sangi district of western Herat province after a group of militants attacked the vehicles convoy of Abdul Hadi Jamshidi. A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said at least two security guards of the lawmaker were killed following the incident.

#5: At least four people were killed or injured following an explosion in south-eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan on Thursday morning. According to local government officials, the incident took place near the provincial attorney general office around 8 am local time.

Posted by whisker at 4:16 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)