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, November 23, 2013

War News for Saturday, November 23, 2013


Thousands block NATO supply route in Pakistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Two children were injured when the Afghanistan-based militants fired mortar shells on the Nawagai tehsil of the Bajaur Agency on Friday.The sources said the militants fired mortar shells from the Kunar province of Afghanistan which hit a house in Hashim Charmang village in the Nawagai tehsil.

#2: Unidentified armed men in Maidan Wardak Province attacked and wounded Malik Hassan, a leading tribal elder, the governor's spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, said November 22. The assailants opened fire on Hassan's home in Daimirdad District, Khogyani said in his statement.

#3: Militants kidnapped 11 Pakistani teachers involved in a polio vaccination campaign for school children on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks on health workers trying to eradicate the deadly disease.

#4: Seven Taliban militants were killed as their explosive device went off prematurely in the eastern Nangarhar province on Friday night, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Posted by whisker at 4:49 AM

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