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 9, 2014

War News for Monday, June 09, 2014


Pakistan airport cleared of militants after attack kills 24

Taliban Claim Responsibility for Pakistan Airport Attack


Reported security incidents
#1: Three suicide bombers attacked a parking lot at a police base in eastern Afghanistan, killing a guard and setting 25 trucks ablaze, an Afghan provincial official said on Monday. The attack on the police base in eastern Behsud district took place late on Sunday, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the spokesperson for the provincial governor of Nangarhar province. A suicide car bomber first blew himself up by detonating his vehicle at the entrance to the parking lot. Two other attackers then stormed in, shooting at the security forces. The police killed both attackers but at least 25 fuel tankers and logistic trucks caught on fire and were burned during the fighting, Abdulzai said.

#2: At least 24 pilgrims were killed Sunday night after a group of attackers targeted their buses in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, the media reported.

#3: A paramilitary convoy was targeted in an explosion in Awaran on Monday, according to reports. At least two people were reported to have been killed while three others were injured. According to reports, a Frontier Corps convoy was targeted with a remote-controlled explosive device in Awaran, 350 kilometres away from Quetta.

#4: About nine Afghan civilians were wounded Monday in roadside bombing in western province of Farah, said the provincial government in a statement. The blast occurred at early morning when a minibus set off an improvised explosive device (IED) in Khaki Safed district in northern of provincial capital Farah city, 695 km west of national capital of Kabul.

#5: Three Afghan soldiers and 13 militants were killed in separate explosions in Afghanistan on Sunday, sources said.

Posted by whisker at 4:25 AM

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