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


Monday, November 3, 2014

War News for Monday, November 3, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: An AFP report says that a deputy provincial governor in Kandahar in Afghanistan has been shot dead while he was attending a class at a university. According to the report, thirty-two-year-old Abdul Qadeem Patyall succumbed to his injuries after a gunman opened fire at him through the window of a classroom at Kandahar University. The incident took place late Sunday

#2: At least 45 people were killed on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Pakistani-Indian border, police said, just after a daily ceremony when troops from both sides simultaneously lower the two nations' flags.

#3: Unknown armed men shot dead a provincial judge in Ghor province with Firoz Koh as its capital 360 km west of Kabul on Sunday night, provincial governor Sayed Anwar Rahmati said Monday.

#4: A commander of local police forces was injured in Badakhshan province last night.

#5: Local officials in northeastern Badakhshan province have said at least 40 Taliban militants have been killed following military operations in Wardoj district.

Posted by whisker at 4:04 AM

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