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


Friday, August 4, 2017

Update for Friday, August 4, 2017

Suicide attack near Bagram air field kills 1 Georgian soldier and 2 Afghan civilians, injures 2 U.S. troops and 11 civilians. Georgia has 870 troops in the country, the 4th largest foreign contingent after the U.S., Italy and Germany.

U.S. soldier killed in action Wednesday near Kandahar are identified as Spc. Christopher Harris, 25, of Jackson Springs, N.C., and Sgt. Jonathon Hunter, 23, of Columbus, Ind. Both were infantrymen assigned to 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

Taliban attack in Helmand kills 5 security forces. The location, Gereshk, was the site of an erroneous U.S. air strike on July 21 that killed 16 people.

Afghan forces claim to have regained control of a district in Paktia, although the Taliban deny this and government forces are said to still be continuing their operation.

Attorneys for Sgt. Robert Bales, who murdered 16 Afghan civilians in 2012 and is serving a life sentence, are claiming that he was affected by the anti-malarial drug mefloquine, which can cause serious neurological and psychiatric side effects. However, it has not been proven that he did take the drug.

Posted by Cervantes at 7:01 AM

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