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, December 21, 2015

Update for Monday, December 21, 2015


A suicide attack on a patrol near Bagram air base has killed 6 NATO troops and injured 3. NATO, in accordance with policy, has not stated the nationality of the casualties but a spokesman for the governor of Parwan province has suggested that they were Americans. There was apparently also an unstated number of Afghan troops injured or killed. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Update: Reuters is reporting that all 6 killed were American, although there is as yet no official announcement as of 12:45 ET.

An Afghan-American woman is killed in Kabul. Lisa Akbari, who had worked for the U.S. army and was apparently currently working for an NGO, was attacked by someone who is said to have "ties to terrorism."

Update: The killer is identified as a cleric, Sayed Ahmad, who was later shot and injured by police, under unclear circumstances. He is said to have lived in the same apartment building as the victim. She was apparently an army veteran, not a civilian contractor, but currently working for a Japanese NGO.

Taliban overrun Sangin district in Helmand. Deputy governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar has posted on social media that "Helmand stands on the brink [of falling to the Taliban] … Ninety men have been killed in Gereshk and Sangin districts in the last two days," claiming that president Ghani's office has not communicated with local leadership and appears unaware of the gravity of the situation. About 170 people are trapped in the police compound and will not be able to hold out much longer.

In Iraq, Turkey is withdrawing troops from the Mosul area in an effort appease the Baghdad government, although some apparently remain and it is not clear that the dispute is entirely over.

IS is said to be preventing civilians from leaving the area of Ramadi it still controls as Iraqi forces prepare an assault.

In what may be a big deal, Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani has called on the two major parties in the region to organize a referendum on independence. (It would certainly pass.) As I have noted before, the rapprochement of the KRG with Ankara and its repudiation of the PKK are best seen as steps toward this goal.








Posted by Cervantes at 6:11 AM

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