Today in The Endless War: Update for Monday, December 28, 2015

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, December 28, 2015

Update for Monday, December 28, 2015

Suicide attack near Kabul airport kills 1, injures 33, including 18 children. All of the victims are reportedly civilians. The intended target was apparently a minibus that transports foreigner troops to and from the airport, but NATO says none of its personnel were affected. Most of the injured children were students at a religious school.

A woman administering polio vaccine is murdered in Kandahar, and a second public health worker is seriously injured.

New Ministry of Defense complex, built by the U.S. at a cost of $160 million, is formally opened. The U.S. spent an additional $33 million on furniture and $12 million on information technology.

NYT reports U.S. plans to maintain a special operations base in Afghanistan for "years to come."

Meetings are scheduled among Afghan, Pakistani, U.S. and Chinese officials to try to revive the peace talks with the Taliban. [This will be difficult because at present there is no such thing as "the Taliban." -- C]

In Iraq, video shows the recaptured city of Ramadi essentially destroyed. It will be a long time before people can move back.

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