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, July 4, 2013

News of the Day for Thursday, July 4, 2013

Four teenage girls killed by an explosion while fetching water in a village near Lashkar Gah in southern Helmand. As TOLO explains, "Insurgents commonly use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on roads to target Afghan and NATO vehicles, but often civilians fall victim to them due to their indiscriminate placement in frequently traveled areas."

Also in Lashkar Gah, a female police inspector is assassinated  in a drive-by shooting. This round-up story also reports two schoolboys killed by a roadside bomb in Paktika province.

For some reason, president John McCain is in Afghanistan today.

Rob Crilly, writing for The Telegraph, is pessimistic about women's rights in Afghanistan, the occasion of the assassination of the police inspector in Lashkar Gah today inspiring his thoughts. Excerpt:

There are more girls in school than under the Taliban, more women in the security forces and more laws to protect their safety. Good. Just one problem. In recent weeks and months these gains are not so much looking “fragile and reversible” as disappearing backwards – and fast.

Today’s tragic events in Helmand are just one example. Lieutenant Islam Bibi had survived the anger of her family, who expected the mother-of-three to stay at home, as well as her brother’s death threats to become a police officer. Her rise through the police ranks was frequently cited as an example of how things have changed for women.
Today she died in a hail of bullets, cut down as she left her home.

Three aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council are Kidnapped in Herat. The abductees are Afghan nationals; no-one has yet claimed responsibility.


Posted by Cervantes at 6:18 AM

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