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, February 3, 2012

War News for Friday, February 03, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus died during combat operations somewhere in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, February 1st.


French forces leave Afghan base where soldiers were killed

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Feb. 3


Reported security incidents
#1: Seven security personnel and 18 militants were killed and five soldiers were kidnapped by Taliban militants, on Friday, during an attack on a check post in the restive Kurram tribal region of northwest Pakistan, which has witnessed fierce fighting in recent days. The militants attacked the check post in Shidano Dand area near the border with Afghanistan overnight, officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels. The attack triggered fierce clashes in which seven soldiers and 18 militants were killed, the officials said. The rebels took away five soldiers. There was no official word on the incident.

#2: Finnish soldiers exchanged fire with insurgents in northern Afghanistan on Thursday. None of the peacekeepers were wounded in the action in which they returned fire in self-defence. The joint Finnish-Swedish patrol was travelling from Darzab to Sheberghan when they were attacked. The skirmish lasted ten minutes.

#3: An Italian base in southwestern Afghanistan came under fire Thursday afternoon but "no damage was done," military sources said Friday. Italian troops have been fighting the Taliban for control of roads in the region and there have been "almost daily" firefights, they said. An Italian soldier was killed at the 'Snow' outpost in the Gulistan district in December 2010.

#4: A homemade bomb exploded outside a house in the Bazaar Zakhakhel area of the northwestern Khyber tribal region, killing one person and wounding two others, local government officials said.

#5: Militants attacked a paramilitary checkpost in the Bara area of the northwestern Khyber tribal region near the Afghanistan border, killing a soldier and wounding another two, security officials said. Two militants were killed when Pakistani forces at the post returned fire, officials added.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus

Posted by whisker at 3:21 AM

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