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


Monday, May 19, 2014

War News for Monday, May 19, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: At least 19 militants and four soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since Saturday, the government and security sources said Sunday. According to the defence ministry, the four soldiers were killed in a bomb attack.

#2: Earlier Sunday, nine Taliban militants were killed when their IED went off prematurely in Ghazni, a security source said.

#3: An army trooper was killed while three others injured in an gunfight with militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district. The gun-fight started after government forces laid a cordon around a residential house where three militants are believed to be holed up in Chodur’s Kaisermulah. Sources said wanted Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Qasim was among the militants who have escaped.

#4: Local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Pakistani military fired at least 18 rockets in the latest wave of cross-border shelling. Provincial security chief, Abdul Habib Syed Khel said the rockets were fired on Sunday night in Sarkano district.

Posted by whisker at 4:25 AM

1 comments:

Encounters Nepal said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
May 20, 2014 at 3:58 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)