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 24, 2014

War News for Saturday, May 24, 2014

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF contracted-civilian from a non-combat related injusy in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, May 23rd.


31 Killed in Multiple Attacks by Al-Qaida Gunmen in Yemen

Most US drone strikes in Pakistan attack houses

10-hour Taliban assault on consulate in Afghanistan

Reported security incidents
#1: Six soldiers were killed today when an improvised explosive devise (IED) planted by militants
targeted a security forces convoy in northwest Pakistan. The explosive device was planted on a roadside in the troubled Mohmand tribal agency where security forces are battling Taliban militants.

#2: Earlier, an explosion occurred at 2 a.m. (local time) in an upmarket shopping area close to the city center in Islamabad. Police officer Chaudhry Hafiz Hussain said one watchman died after being taken to a hospital. The second blast was described by authorities as a "low intensity" explosion inside a car in a different part of the capital.

#3: A total of three dozen Taliban militants have been killed across the militancy-plagued Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, Ministry of Interior said in a statement released here on Saturday.

#4: Five Taliban militants were killed and another injured as their explosive device went off prematurely in the eastern Kunar province on Saturday.

#5: Nine Taliban militants were killed and 15 others including three security personnel sustained injuries as clash flared up in Dasht-e-Arch district of Kunduz province 250 km north of Kabul on Saturday, a local official said.

#6: At least one civilian was killed and five others were injured following an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan. A spokesman for the provincial police department, Abdul Ahad Chopan, said the incident took place early Saturday morning in Marjah district.

Posted by whisker at 4:36 AM

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