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, October 30, 2016

Update for Sunday, October 30, 2016


I haven't really bothered to closely follow the day-to-day violence in Afghanistan, which recently has been fairly low-level but continual. But today we have some links that offer overall perspective.

This has been the bloodiest year yet for Afghan security forces, with about 5,500 killed and 9,600 injured.  Note that this is one reason why I don't link to every report of fighting, because generally speaking the government does not disclose its own casualties in battles. We see these reports of 9 or 12 or 30 Taliban killed and no mention of government casualties, or a suspiciously lopsided number. The total public reports of specific casualty totals in given engagements are nowhere close to 5,500 dead. This piece also mentions that the government has lost control of territory this year, down to 63% of the country from 65% in May.

Most of the billions of dollars the U.S. has spent building roads in Afghanistan has been wasted.

The so-called National Unity Government of Ghani and Abdullah is shattering.

Violence against journalists in Afghanistan is at unprecedented levels, with 377 cases reported so far this year.

Posted by Cervantes at 8:35 AM

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