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


Saturday, August 30, 2014

War News for Saturday, August 30, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide car bomber followed by Taliban gunmen attacked the office of an Afghan intelligence agency in Jalalabad on Saturday, killing six and wounding dozens. Heavy fighting soon broke out after the attack on the Jalalabad headquarters. Hours after the bombing of the National Directorate of Security headquarters, Afghan and Taliban forces were still fighting, Ahmad Zeya Abdulzai, spokesman for the eastern Nangarhar province governor said.

#2: Unknown armed men opened fire at an oil tanker and killed its driver in the southwestern province's Naseerabad district, police said. Muhammad Ayub, a police official told Dawn via telephone that two armed motorcyclists opened fire at an oil tanker and killed its driver. The cleaner of the tanker was also injured in the attack.

#3: A fierce gunbattle is taking place between army and militants in Kupwara region of Kashmir. One jawan has been reportedly killed and another got injured in the showdown that is taking place at Karlahoos forest. - See more at: http://www.eni.network24.co/india/jandk-one-soldier-killed-in-an-encounter-with-terrorists-in-kupwara-17750_2#sthash.nNuEGt1b.dpuf

#4: Unknown armed men gunned down 11 civilians and wounded four others in the western Farah province with Farah city as its capital 695 km west of Kabul on Saturday, spokesman for provincial government Jawad Afghan said. "Fifteen civilians were going to Iran when a group of unidentified armed men stopped them in Abu Nasar Farahi area in Farah province this morning and after questioning brutally opened fire killing 11 of them on the spot and wounding four others," Jawad Afghan told Xinhua.

#5: Five Afghan police were kidnapped Friday after their checkpoint came under attack by Taliban militants in western Herat province, police said. Militants numbered 10 to 15 raided a security checkpoint in a surrounding area of Obe district at around midday. The kidnapping took place after a gunfight.

Posted by whisker at 4:39 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)