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, August 22, 2014

War News for Friday, August 22, 2014

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related incident in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, August 22nd.


Reported security incidents
#1: security forces during operations against Taliban militants in the eastern Laghman province 90 km east of Afghan capital Kabul killed four militants on Friday, a statement of provincial administration sent to media outlets said. "Security personnel laid ambush and killed four armed insurgents in Kotator area outside provincial capital Mehterlam early Friday morning and their bodies have been kept in a local hospital," the statement said.
 
#2: Three police were killed as a roadside bomb struck police van in the eastern Kunar province on Friday, provincial police chief Abdul Habib Sayedkhili said. "A mine planted by militants struck a police vehicle in Manogai district this morning killing three police constables on the spot, " Sayedkhili told newsmen here.
 
 
DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Matthew I. Leggett

Posted by whisker at 5:02 AM

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