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


Tuesday, July 15, 2014

War News for Tuesday, July 15, 2014


Full audit of Afghanistan presidential votes delayed


Reported security incidents
#1: At least 89 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion at a busy market in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province, the defence ministry says. Officials say the attacker drove a 4x4 vehicle into the market in Orgun district and detonated the explosives. Some 42 injured people have been taken to hospital, he added.

A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a police checkpoint in the eastern province of Paktika.

#2: Separately, two employees of the presidential office were killed when a roadside bomb was exploded by remote control as their vehicle passed it in the capital city of Kabul. President Hamid Karzai's office said five were wounded.

#3: Meanwhile, an alleged militant was killed in an encounter with police following an attack on check post in Bhana Mari area on Kohat Road. Officials said the two accused were riding a motorbike opened fire on the check post. Police returned fire, killing an attacker while his accomplice managed to flee.

#4: At least 17 Taliban militants were killed following counter-terrorism operations in various provinces of Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.

#5: At least three Afghan national army soldiers were martyred following separate improvised explosive device (IED) attacks. The ministry of defense of Afghanistan (MoD) said Tuesday that the soldiers were martyred in the past 24 hours.

Posted by whisker at 4:11 AM

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