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


Friday, August 29, 2014

War News for Friday, August 29, 2014


Quetta, three journalists murdered as attacks on Pakistani press mount

Leader of Iran’s Baluchi rebels killed in Pakistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Gunmen have opened fire on worshippers at a shrine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least six members of a minority Islamic sect and wounding seven others, officials have said. The attack came at a shrine of the Zikri community in Awaran district, about 650km southwest of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province.

#2: Unknown gunmen shot dead the provincial high peace council committee chief in capital Kabul late Thursday. According to Nuristani high peace council committee members, Haji Abdul Halim was assassinated by gunmen riding motorcycle.

Posted by whisker at 5:17 AM

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