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


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

War News for Wednesday, September 3, 2014


'Miracle at sea': 25 survive Marine copter crash


Reported security incidents
#1: Pakistan said Wednesday it has killed 910 suspected militants and lost 82 soldiers in a major offensive launched in June in a restive tribal region near Afghanistan.

#2: About 35 Taliban militants have been killed in fresh military operations across Afghanistan, said the country's Interior Ministry on Wednesday morning.

#3: Afghan security forces killed a local Taliban leader along with eight other militants during a security operation in northern Kunduz province, police said Wednesday.

#4: The head of development council of Jaween district was abducted by Taliban this morning. Mohammad Yar governor of Jaween district, Farah province said BNA, the incident occurred while Ghulam Haidar the head of development council of Jaween district  with his men was going from center of Farah to Jaween district, abducted by Taliban and transferred to unspecified place.

#5: Two policemen were martyred and five others wounded in explosion of a roadside mine in Dehraod district, Urozgan province this morning.

#6: The provincial Hajj and Religious Affairs chief Qazi Fazal Ahmad was kidnapped by militants in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan.

#7: Cross-border shelling from the other side of Durand Line continues as Pakistani military fired around 100 rockets in Kunar province on Tuesday.

Posted by whisker at 6:02 AM

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