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, July 5, 2014

War News for Saturday, July 05, 2014




The U.S. Needs to Stop the ISIS Pipeline


Reported security incidents
#1: Taliban insurgents have set fire to about 200 oil tanker lorries supplying fuel for Nato forces in an attack just outside Kabul, police said. Television footage showed black smoke billowing above the site of the attack, with the charred wreckage of dozens of trucks scattered around a vast parking space. It was unclear how the fire was started. Some Afghan media reported that insurgents had fired rockets at the tankers late on Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

#2: Jets bombed militant hideouts in North Waziristan on Saturday, killing scores of Uzbek and local insurgents in a massive ongoing offensive against the Taliban, the military said. Airstrikes were carried out at Miranshah and Boya village after shots were fired at troops, according to a statement

#3: A local Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) district leader was killed in the wee hours of Saturday morning when unknown gunmen opened fire on him in Balochistan's Kalat district, DawnNews reported. According to Levies personnel, unknown assailants broke into the house of PML-N leader Abdul Jabbar Imrani at the time of Sehri and shot him dead.

#4: Preacher of Farah mosque has been martyred by unknown gunmen last night. Jawad Afghan spokesman of Farah governor told BNA, Mawlavi Momen preacher of a mosque in Farah province targeted by two unknown gunmen who riding motorcycle and seriously injured. According to the source, Mawlavi Momen as a result of heavy injuries and bleeding lost his life on way to hospital.

#5: Six Taliban militants were killed and 10 others sustained injuries as clash erupted in Jarm district of Badakhshan province 315 km northeast of Kabul on Friday night, spokesman of provincial government Ahmad Naved Frutan said Saturday. "A group of armed Taliban rebels attacked police checkpoints outside Jarm city on Friday night and police returned fire killing six militants on the spot and injuring 10 others," Frutan told Xinhua. There were no casualties on the security personnel, he contended.

Posted by whisker at 4:59 AM

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