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


Sunday, May 13, 2012

News of the Day for Sunday, May 13, 2012

Two British servicemen shot dead by Afghan police in Helmand province on Saturday. MoD says one was from the 1st Battalion Welsh guards and the other the RAF. They were providing security for a meeting with Afghan officials. One of the attackers was killed, the other is at large.

An Afghan peace council member is killed in a drive by shooting in Kabul. "Arsala Rahmani was a former Taliban official who had reconciled with the government and was active in trying to set up formal talks with the insurgents."


High ranking NATO, Pakistani and Afghan military commanders meet to discuss border control after a break of several months. Pakistani General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, ISAF commander General John Allen, and Afghan armhy chief Sher Muhammad Karimi met in Rawalpindi ahead of a meeting of the Pakistani Defense Committee of the cabinet, which will discuss reopening NATO supply routes through Pakistan.
 
Six de-miners are abducted in Nangarhar. Not clear whether they are Afghan nationals.
 
Two ISAF troops killed by IED in eastern Afghanistan. No further details at this time.
 
Afghan Interior Ministry issues a press release claiming 18 Taliban killed in the past 24 hours. They have taken to routinely issuing these body counts. No way of knowing whether it's true, there are usually no details. -- C
 
Iraq Update
 
U.S. may abandon multi-billion dollar program to train Iraqi police that the Iraqis never wanted in the first place. Sounds like a plan to me. -- C Sayeth Tim Arango of the NYT "The training effort, which began in October and has already cost $500 million, was conceived of as the largest component of a mission billed as the most ambitious American aid effort since the Marshall Plan. Instead, it has emerged as the latest high-profile example of the waning American influence here following the military withdrawal, and it reflects a costly miscalculation on the part of American officials, who did not count on the Iraqi government to assert its sovereignty so aggressively."
 
 
U.S. officials are furious as Iraqi court frees Ali Musa Daqduq, a Hezbollah commander from Lebanon who worked with a Shiite militia in high profile attacks on U.S. forces and the abduction of British contractors.
 
 
 

Posted by Cervantes at 4:57 AM

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