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


Friday, April 25, 2014

War News for Friday, April 25, 2014


Officials: Dozens killed in Afghan flooding

Afghanistan floods claim at least 102 lives, dozens more missing


Reported security incidents
#1: Gunmen shot dead four policemen Thursday in Balochistan province, which has been hit by an insurgency for almost a decade, officials said. The shooting took place when police on routine patrol were passing from the town of Chattar in Naseerabad district.

#2: Pakistani warplanes attacked insurgent hideouts in the tribal region near the Afghan border, killing 37 suspected militants and wounding 18, army officials said yesterday, as authorities hold peace negotiations with the Taliban. The airstrikes pounded two suspected hideouts in a remote area of the Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal region, three military officials said.

#3: The Department of Defence says the C-130 transport plane left the runway while landing at the Kabul International Airport late yesterday. The plane, which has since been towed away for examination, overshot the runway by about 70 metres. It is not known how many people were on board but the department says no-one was injured.

#4: A powerful blast rocked Zabul's provincial capital Qalat in south Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, killing a child and wounding eight others including a soldier and seven non-combatants, provincial police chief Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Liwanai said. "The explosive device was planted on a motorbike and went off next to a military vehicle, killed a child, wounding an Afghan soldier and seven passersby,"Liwanai told Xinhua.


News: Dr. Jerry Umanos

Posted by whisker at 4:23 AM

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