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


Saturday, February 25, 2012

War News for Saturday, February 25, 2012

More Quran protests leave 7 dead in Afghanistan

Three killed in Afghanistan UN compound attack

Marine found not guilty of hazing allegation

Off topic - U.S. Agencies See No Move by Iran to Build a Bomb


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence says six Afghan soldiers have been killed and 16 others wounded while trying to defuse a roadside bomb. The ministry says the soldiers died on Saturday in Mukar district of Baghdis province in western Afghanistan.

#2: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed 12 insurgents and detained six more in Paktia and Helmand provinces over the past 24 hours, the interior ministry said in a statement.

#3: Seven militants were killed when Pakistani forces shelled their hideout in the Bara area of the northwestern Khyber tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, security officials said. The death toll could not be independently verified, and militants often dispute official accounts.

#4: A mortar shell landed on a house in the Bara area of the northwestern Khyber tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, killing three people and wounding three others, security officials said.

#5: Fourteen small homemade bombs planted on railway tracks exploded in the southern Sindh province, damaging tracks and disrupting railway traffic, provincial police officials said. There were no casualties.

#6: According to International Security Assistance Force officials, multiple insurgents were killed following a joint militqry operation by Afghan and International coalition security forces in eastern Afghanistan. The officials further added, the insurgents were killed in Qarghai district of eastern Laghman province while they were placing improvised exploive devices. Afghan and coalition security forces positively identified the insurgents and called in close air support assets to engage their position, ISAF said.

#7: According to local authorities in eastern Afghanistan, at least 2 Afghan civilians were injured following an explosion in eastern Kunar province. The officials further added, the incident took place around 8:30 am local time on Saturday at Narang district of eastern Kunar province. Narang district police chief said, the main target of the explosion was a local police commander Waziri, who survived the incident. According to local residents, the improvised explosive device was planted in a roadside at a market in Nanrang district and went off while the local police commander was crossing the area.


DoD: Sgt. Joshua A. Born

DoD: Cpl. Timothy J. Conrad Jr.

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