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, August 13, 2014

War News for Wednesday, August 13, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: At least 20 people were injured in an explosion in Pakistan's Quetta on Tuesday night, the media said. Superintendent of Police Imran Qureshi told Dawnonline that armed militants hurled a bomb in busy market in Quetta city in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan province.

#2: Taliban militants attacked Shibergan jail in the northern Afghan province of Jauzjan with Shibergan as its capital 390 km north of Kabul on Wednesday, triggering gun battle, deputy to provincial police chief Sayed Amanudin Hussaini said. "The police were going to shift 20 Taliban detainees and dangerous criminals from Shibergan jail to Kabul today morning when a Taliban detainee empowered a guard of the jail and snatched his weapon leaving other detainees to run away and take weapons," Hussaini told Xinhua. Police and other security personnel have surrounded the jail to re-arrest the detainees, the official added.

#3: Up to 80 militants have been killed in a series of military operations in Afghan provinces within the past 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Wednesday morning.

#4: As a result of a roadside mine explosion, two civilians wounded in Kunar province yesterday.

#5: The Pakistani militaries fired 37 rockets in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan yesterday. Abdul Habib Sayedkhail police chief of Kunar province said BNA correspondent, the rocket shells targeted Dangam and Shigal districts of the province. According to Sayedkhail, the attacks have not casualties, but four families left their homes.

Posted by whisker at 4:27 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)