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, October 28, 2013

War News for Monday, October 28, 2013


Afghan truck drivers see their dangerous jobs getting deadlier

NATO Reduces Scope of Its Afghanistan Plans


Reported security incidents
#1: A roadside bomb on Sunday killed at least 18 civilians, mostly women, as they travelled by minibus to a wedding party in a volatile area of central Afghanistan, officials said.

Angry villagers in Afghanistan have stoned a man to death and riddled his body with bullets, believing he set off a bomb on a bus that killed 18 civilians, officials said today.
#2: update A row which left an Afghan soldier dead and three Nato colleagues wounded took place close to the new UK-run officer training academy, it has emerged.

#3: A girl of seven-year-old was killed and five soldiers were wounded in the fresh explosion jolted the capital Kabul, an official said Sunday.

#4: Head of the maintenance department in Kabul municipality, Nesar Ahmad Habibi survived a roadside bomb explosion in capital Kabul late Sunday night. According to reports, Nesar Ahmad Habibi not inside the vehicle when the incident took place and only the driver of the vehicle was injured following the explosion.

#5: At least 19 Taliban militants were killed during joint military operations by Afghan and coalition security forces across the country. According to a statement released by the ministry of interior affairs of Afghanistan, the militants were killed during operations conducted by Afghan and coalition security forces during the past 24 hours. The statement further added that the operations were conducted in Nangarhar, Uruzgan, Logar, Khost, Farah, Ghor and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan.

Posted by whisker at 4:50 AM

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