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


Monday, November 14, 2016

Update for Monday, November 14, 2016

 IRAQ

IS suicide bombers attempting to reach the city of Karbala to attack the Shiite commemoration of Arbaeen are stopped in the town of Ain Tamr, where security forces kill five of them but one enters a civilian home and detonates his device, killing eight people.

Iraqi forces retake the city of Nimrud, the location of an important ancient Assyrian archaeological site which IS had destroyed.

Hospitals near Mosul are said to be overwhelmed by civilian casualties, many of them children.

The prevailing mood in Kurdistan is said to be apathy and despair amid economic decline and corruption, according to an al Jazeera reporter.

The whereabouts of IS leader Baghdadi are unknown  but one claim is that he is in the region west of Mosul.

AFGHANISTAN

DoD identifies U.S. soldiers killed in the attack at Bagram airbase as 20-year-old Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt of Tamaroa, Illinois, and 30-year-old Sgt. John W. Perry of Stockton, California, died. They were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Parwan governor's officer identifies the attacker as a worker at the base.

After Parliament impeached six ministers, President Ghani has ordered them to remain in office, setting up a political power struggle. Parliament dismissed them for poor performance, but Ghani says that decimating the cabinet will paralyze the government. 

IS claims to have shot down a U.S. helicopter in Ghor, but this appears to be false. In fact an Afghan helicopter made a hard landing due to a malfunction. 

 



Posted by Cervantes at 8:10 AM

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