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, August 19, 2014

War News for Tuesday, August 19, 2014


Afghanistan reconstruction a multibillion-dollar waste

Deaths of humanitarian aid workers reach record high


Reported security incidents
#1: Pakistan's military says it has killed 48 suspected militants in airstrikes in two tribal regions near Afghanistan. In a statement, the military said army helicopters attacked militant hideouts in the Khyber and North Waziristan tribal regions.

#2: As many as 700 heavily armed Taliban insurgents are battling Afghan security forces in Logar, a key province near the capital Kabul, local officials said on Tuesday, in a test of the Afghan military's strength as foreign forces pull out of the country. Abdul Hakim Esaaqzai, the police chief of Logar province, said the insurgents, armed with heavy machine guns, were fighting Afghan forces from residential areas in Charkh district.

#3: At least six people including two infants were killed when a vehicle hit a roadside bomb in restive northwest Pakistan Tuesday, officials said. The attack came in Salarzai area of Bajaur tribal region, which lies on the Afghan border and has recently been attacked by the militants from across the frontier.
#4: The Pakistani military fired at least 30 more rockets in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.

#5: At least two militants were killed following an airstrike by NATO-led coalition forces in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.

Posted by whisker at 6:36 AM

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