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, May 3, 2014

War News for Saturday, May 03, 2014


More than 2,100 confirmed dead in Afghanistan landslide


Reported security incidents
#1: One Frontier Corps (FC) man was killed and another was injured in a bomb explosion in Balochistan province’s Bolan district on Saturday, a security official said. Khan Wasey, a spokesman for the FC, told Dawn that a security forces’ vehicle was on routine patrolling when it was attacked in Bolan’s Dhadar area in the morning.

#2: a bomb went off in Mehterlam, the capital city of eastern Laghman province, on Friday, injuring 18 civilians, an official said. "A total of 18 innocent civilians were injured as a sticky bomb blasted a police van in Mehterlam city at 09:15 a.m. local time today," spokesman for the provincial administration Sarhadi Zawak told Xinhua.

#3: At least 20 Taliban militants were killed in separate military operations conducted by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.

#4: An explosion was heard in capital Kabul on Friday afternoon leaving one person dead. Deputy interior minister Gen. Ayub Salangi confirmed the incident and said at least one person was killed and another one was injured following the explosion. This comes as earlier reports suggest at least two policemen were injured following the explosion which took place as a result of a magnetic bomb in Arzan Qeemat area.

Posted by whisker at 4:01 AM

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