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, June 2, 2014

War News for Monday, June 02, 2014


Fellow soldiers call Bowe Bergdahl a deserter, not a hero


Reported security incidents
#1: Three engineers from a Turkish company have been killed in a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan, according to officials. The spokesman for the governor in Nangharhar province said the attack took place on Monday morning when the Turkish workers were travelling to work in the district of Behsud. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the bomber drove a motorcycle and the explosion killed three engineers and wounded a fourth.

#2: Also on June 2, a group of Taliban suicide bombers attacked a government compound in southern Helmand Province, killing two Afghan policemen and a civilian. An Afghan official said that in the Helmand attack, one bomber blew himself up at the gates of the compound while three attackers stormed inside. The attackers were shot and killed by other policemen.

#3: Four persons were killed when unknown culprits opened fire in a house in Buner District of Swat on Monday morning. According to police, the incident occurred in Palwari area of Buner where unknown armed assailants opened fire in a house that killed three women and a man.

#4: Afghan Ministry for Interior on Monday reported killing more than six dozen Taliban militants across the country over the past 24 hours.

Posted by whisker at 4:09 AM

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