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


Thursday, October 13, 2016

Update for Thursday, October 13, 2016

Taliban surround and massacre about 100 Afghan soldiers and police near Lashkar Gah, seizing 22 armored humvees, dozens of trucks and innumerable rifles, while also taking many prisoners. The Afghan army is now losing 5,000 security forces per month to casualties and desertion, while replacing them with only 3,000. Ill-trained recruits are being rushed to the front lines.

Eight additional security forces are said to have died in other engagements since then.

IS fighters are said to have been killed by air strikes in Nangarhar and Taliban said to have been killed in Farah. As usual, no corroboration for the reported body counts.

Three children are injured in a rocket attack in Parwan.

U.S. special forces are deployed in Farah to support Afghan troops as fighting is ongoing in the provincial capital.

Posted by Cervantes at 9:34 AM

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