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, October 22, 2014

War News for Wednesday, October 22, 2014


Roadside bombing kills 3 in Yemen


Reported security incidents
#1: Three persons including two levy personnel injured when a polio eradication team vehicle was targeted with a bomb attack in Bajur Agency on Wednesday.

#2: A gunman shot dead a British national in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, police said Tuesday, as authorities struggle to piece together a motive behind the murder.

#3: At least 30 suspected terrorists have been killed as jet fighters targeted their hideouts in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).

#4: Units of Afghan police backed by the army have killed more than three dozen Taliban militants during series of operations across the strife-torn country over the past 24 hours, Ministry of Interior said in a statement released here on Wednesday.

#5: A number of policemen were injured following a suicide car bomb attack in southern Helmand province early Wednesday. In the meantime, a local security official said the target of the suicide bomber was the police chief for border protection forces.

Posted by whisker at 3:52 AM

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