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, September 27, 2014

War News for Saturday, September 27, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan security forces on Saturday fought back against a major Taliban offensive in the east of the country after the militants killed up to 100 security personnel and civilians, beheading 12 of them, officials said. "Afghan soldiers, police and commandoes have launched clean-up operations against the insurgents in Ajristan," Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy governor of Ghazni province, told AFP. "The Taliban insurgents were holed up, using civilian houses as shelters. They were driven out and are being beaten back," Ahmadi said.

#2: A bomb planted on a motorcycle killed a civilian and wounded 22 others in a busy marketplace in Pakistan's troubled southwest, police said. The bomb, detonated by remote control, exploded in the town of Sibbi, in the oil- and gas-rich province of Baluchistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan, police official Nazar Muhammad told AFP.
#3: Two members of the peace committee were killed and another sustained injuries in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Pandyali tehsil of Mohmand Agency on Friday, sources said. The sources said that the members of Tahir Amn Committee were patrolling in Anzar Miangan village when they were targeted with an IED.Two members, whose identity could not be ascertained, were killed on the spot while another was injured.

#4: Security forces have killed 17 Taliban militants in the Afghan northern province of Faryab over the past week, army spokesman Mohammad Reza Rezai said Saturday. "Units of security forces have raided Taliban hideouts in Almar district over the past week during which 17 militants have been killed," Rezai told reporters. However, he didn't say if there were any casualties on the security personnel, insisting several villages have been liberated from the Taliban clutches. Meantime, Taliban militants, without commenting on the clash in Almar district, have claimed that the armed militants and destroyed an army vehicle and injured two security personnel in the neighboring Daulatabad district of Faryab province on Friday.

#5: Four people were injured as a mine struck a military vehicle in Kunduz provincial capital the Kunduz city, 250 km north of Kabul, on Saturday, police said. "A sticky bomb planted on an army vehicle exploded at 09:00 a.m. local time, injuring four civilians,"a police officer said but declined to be identified, adding that authorized officials would brief the media after investigation. An eye witness on the condition of anonymity said that one civilian was killed and four others sustained injuries in the blast.

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