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, April 25, 2011

War News for Monday, April 25, 2011

MNF-Iraq (OND) is reporting the deaths of two U.S. soldiers during conducting operations in an undisclosed location in southern Iraq on Friday, April 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, April 23rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a helicopter crash in the Alah Say district, Kapisa province, Afghanistan on Saturday, April 23rd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, April 23rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, April 24th.


476 inmates escape from Afghan prison, Taliban claims responsibility

2 killed in Tajik-Afghan border clash

Nato supply route re-opened in Pakistan

Classified Files Offer New Insights Into Detainees


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Six persons have been wounded in an improvised explosive charge (IED) blast against an Army patrol north of Baghdad, a security source said on Sunday. “An IED, planted on the roadside in northern Baghdad’s Kasra district, blew off against an Iraqi Army patrol, wounding four soldiers and two civilians,” the security source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to the car of Major Rabah Abbas, an Iraqi army officer, detonated while he was leaving his house in western Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

#2: Also in the city, a sticky bomb attached to a minibus detonated and killed the driver in northwestern Baquba, the source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"



DoD: Sgt. John P. Castro

DoD: 1st Lt. Omar J. Vazquez

DoD: Pfc. Antonio G. Stiggins

DoD: Staff Sgt. James, A. Justice

Posted by whisker at 3:21 AM

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