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


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

War News for Tuesday, October 15, 2013


Foreign soldier killed in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: An attack on a mosque killed the governor of Logar Province south of the Afghan capital on Tuesday, officials said, as he was making an address on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Darwish said the bomb had been planted inside the mosque and detonated remotely, but police said the explosion was set off by a suicide bomber.

#2: A grenade attack targetting on a convoy of the Balochistan Constabulary in Quetta injured 11 people on Tuesday.A vehicle belonging to the Balochistan Constabulary was travelling on Mastung Road in Quetta when unknown motorcyclists hurled a hand grenade at it. The wounded included five constabulary personnel, three children and three others present in the vicinity.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Patrick H. Quinn

Posted by whisker at 4:36 AM

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