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, April 30, 2015

Update for Thursday, April 30, 2015


You may recall last week that we noted three U.S. soldiers had been injured by a bomb attack on their MRAP, and we found that curious. Well, the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan isn't over after all. Here, the Arkansas Post-Gazette largely recycles the NYT report, but since the Times is throwing up a paywall, this is the link you get. Excerpt:

Months after President Barack Obama formally declared that the United States' long war against the Taliban was over in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is regularly conducting airstrikes against low-level insurgent forces and sending special operations troops directly into harm's way under the guise of "training and advising." . . .

Rather than ending the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the military is using its wide latitude to instead transform it into a continuing campaign of airstrikes -- mostly drone missions -- and special operations raids that have in practice stretched or broken the boundaries publicly described by the White House.

And apparently the mission is creeping for Romania as well. (Didn't know they still have troops there? They have 625.) Four Rumanian soldiers injured by a bomb attack. "The ministry said they were on a patrol some 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of the military base in Kandahar Thursday morning as part of the "Resolute Support" mission when the vehicle blew up."

And why is the mission creeping? Because Afghan forces can't secure the country. Afghan forces struggle to break the seige of Kunduz. "Afghan security forces continued to battle Taliban in the northern city of Kunduz on April 30 in a bid to push them outside of the city limits.. . .Meanwhile, up to 2,000 Taliban fighters continued to hold territory in four other parts of Kunduz Province, giving them positions from which to besiege Kunduz city -- including positions to the south of the city where the strategic Kunduz Airport is located."

And, Fighting in Afghanistan this year could kill and injure a record number of civilians and force a growing number of people from their homes, aid agencies said.

Posted by Cervantes at 9:34 AM

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