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, July 23, 2014

War News for Wednesday, July 23, 2014


Taliban beating back Afghan security forces near Kabul

Taliban grab land in Afghan Faryab province after fierce fighting


Reported security incidents
#1: Two Nepali nationals were killed while another was injured when a Taliban suicide bomber exploded an explosives-laden motorbike into an Afghan police compound near Kabul International Airport today. All three were working as security guards for DynCorp.

#2: Thirteen militants were killed and scores of their hideouts were destroyed on Wednesday in air strikes by Pakistan’s fighter jets in the Shawal area of North Waziristan tribal region, ARY News reports.

#3: One Afghan police was killed and three others, including a district police chief, injured in a suicide bombing in Kunduz city, the provincial capital of northern Kunduz province, on Wednesday morning, a source said. "Chardara District police Chief Ghulam Mehoiddin was travelling to his office. A militant detonated his explosive vest on a narrow bridge while the official's car was passing by, killing one police and injuring three others, including Mehoiddin," the provincial police spokesman Sayyed Sarwar Housini told Xinhua.

#4: At least 37 Taliban militants were killed during military operations by Afghan national army soldiers during the past 24 hours.

#5: A transport plane belonging to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) made precautionary landing in western Herat province of Afghanistan. A security official in Herat province confirmed the report and said no casualties were reported following the incident which took place on Tuesday.

Posted by whisker at 3:22 AM

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