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


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

War News for Wednesday, November 27, 2013


Pakistan releases 3 senior Afghan Taliban leaders


Reported security incidents
#1: Suspected Taliban gunmen have killed six aid workers in Afghanistan and wounded a seventh. Police in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab said Wednesday that the attackers targeted local workers for a French aid group known as ACTED. ACTED released a statement saying its workers, who were Afghans, were ambushed and gunned down as they were traveling by car in Faryab province. Of seven passengers in the car, only one survived.

#2: An Afghan local leader was killed in a drive-by shooting in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, said a provincial source on Wednesday. "The leader named Abdul Satar was killed following a shooting incident in Kabali Wat area of provincial capital Lashkar Gah Tuesday evening. The attackers riding a motorbike fled the scene shortly after the incident," the provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told Xinhua.

#3-4: At least five cops were killed and aother was injured in two separate incidents of firing at police mobiles in Pakistan's southern Hyderabad city on Tuesday night, local media reported.

#3: The first incident happened at about 7:45 p.m. local time when some unknown gunmen coming on motorbikes opened fire at a police mobile in Latif Abad area of Hyderabad, a main city in the country 's south Sindh province. Police said that the killed cops working for A-Section police station of the city were attacked when they stopped at the main road for checking passing vehicles.

#4: Minutes after the attack, another incident of firing took place in almost the same area when some unknown gunmen sprayed bullets at a police mobile, killing one police man and injuring another.

#5: At least 33 Taliban militants were killed during military operations conducted by Afghan national security forces in various provinces of Afghanistan during the past 24 hours.

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