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, April 21, 2012

War News for Saturday, April 21, 2012

NATO is reporting the deaths of four ISAF soldiers from a helicopter crash in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 19th.

Militants arrested in Afghanistan with ten tons of explosives

TAPI pipeline: gas transit fee to be 49.5 cents per MMBTU

Navy investigates sailor's death on carrier in Va.


Afghanistan: " DoD:


Capt. Michael C. Braden

Posted by whisker at 3:37 AM

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