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


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

War News for Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The DoD is reporting the deaths of four U.S. soldiers. They died when their U-28 plane crashed near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa on Saturday, February 18th. This appears to be a non-hostile accident. There’s various news reports on the soldiers and their units missions which preforms transport operations to small airfields for navy SEALS and and Rangers and electronic surveillance. They were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Albanian MoD is reporting the death of an Albanian ISAF soldier when an apparent Afghan National Police man shot him while on patrol somewhere in Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Monday, February 20th. The MoD and news reports that another Albanian soldier and an unidentified ISAF soldier were also wounded in the attack. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-hostile related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, February 21st.


Photos: Heavy snowfall hits Kabul - Note: Afghanistan is experiencing one of the coldest and worse withers in recent memory, Perhaps this is way the violence has subsided over the previous few months and no winter offensive has materialized. Even border areas of Pakistan has been having unseasonable cold weather and snow places where it’s almost never seen. I presume that after the spring thaw and flooding season is over things will be back to normal and the fighting will resume. - whisker

Afghanistan Health Alert: Measles Outbreak


Reported security incidents
#1: A homemade bomb planted in a motorcycle exploded outside a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar, police officials said. There were no casualties.

#2: A homemade bomb exploded next to a police vehicle in the Bagzai area of the northwestern Kurram tribal region, security officials said. There were no casualties.

#3: One policeman was killed when militants attacked a police checkpost in the Panjgur area of the southwestern Baluchistan province, police officials said.

#4: Insurgents beheaded four civilians they believed to be spying for the government in the Washir district of southern Helmand province, the regional governor said in a statement.

#5: A roadside bomb killed four civilians including a child in the Shah Wali Kot district of the southern Kandahar province on Sunday, ISAF said in a statement.

#6: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed two insurgents, wounded three and detained one more in Kabul and Logar provinces over the past 24 hours, the interior ministry said in a statement.


DoD: Capt. Ryan P. Hall

DoD: Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock

DoD: 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens

DoD: Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten

AL/MoD: Captain FeTi Vogli

Posted by whisker at 4:06 AM

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