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


Sunday, September 20, 2015

Update for Sunday, September 20, 2015

The NYT's David Phillips tells the story of the second battalion of the Seventh Marines, whose veterans are plagued by PTSD and suicide. (You may need a subscription.) The 2/7 served in Helmand Province and saw the hardest combat.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the security situation continues to deteriorate as taliban destroy 2 police vehicles and 5 shops in Logar.

 Taliban attack a police post in Badakshan, kill 6 police and take a tank, a truck, 5 automatic rifles and a machine gun.

Taliban order villagers in Ghazni to evacuate.

Roadside bomb kills 5 police in Paktia.

Two civilians killed and 2 injured in separate explosions in Kandahar.

Five civilians injured in an explosion in Samangan. (Note that the violence is spreading to formerly relatively peaceful areas.)

Militants using the Islamic State brand have forced the closure of 58 schools in Nangarhar, leaving 300,000 children without education.

Pakistan claims an attack on an air force base in Badaber was launched from Afghan territory.


Posted by Cervantes at 9:53 AM

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