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, December 3, 2014

War News for Wednesday, December 3, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: At least 15 militants were killed today when Pakistani military jets pounded their hideouts in aerial strikes in the country's restive northwestern tribal region.

#2: In the latest militants attack, a group of militants raided a police checkpoint in Darzab district at Jauzjan province with Shiberghan as its capital, 390 km north of Kabul, on Wednesday, leaving four police dead, provincial police chief Faqir Mohammad Jauzjani said. "The armed insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in Darzab district at 02:00 a.m. local time today killing four police personnel," Jauzjani told Xinhua.

#3: A US drone strike left at least 12 militants dead in eastern Nangarhar province.

Posted by whisker at 3:21 AM

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