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


Thursday, November 27, 2014

War News for Thursday, November 27, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: At least one British diplomat was killed Thursday after a large explosion damaged a convoy of foreign embassy cars in Kabul, police said. The suicide attack killed five people and wounded 33 others, including at least four children, said Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul's police chief. An explosive-laden car was detonated as a foreign embassy convoy was passing by in the 9th District police zone, said interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi.

#2: A Shia cleric was killed in a drive-by shooting in Islamabad on Wednesday, a private news channel reported. According to the police, Allama Nawaz Irfani, a prominent leader of Majlis Wahdat ul Muslimeen (MWM) , was targeted on way to Islamabad from his home town Parachinar in the limits of Golrah Police Station.

#3: At least five Taliban militants were killed following military operations by Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in southeastern Ghazni and Southern Helmand provinces.


DoD: Sgt. Maj. Wardell B. Turner

DoD: Spc. Joseph W. Riley

Posted by whisker at 3:05 AM

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