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


Thursday, March 29, 2012

News of the Day for Thursday, March 29, 2012

Note: Whisker is off the net this morning so I'm filling in with a quick post. -- C

One ISAF service member reported killed by an IED, another from non-combat injuries. No further details at this time.

Insurgents ambush a NATO supply convoy in western Afghanistan (the exact location is not given). In a three hour firefight, 14 militants, 5 security guards, and an Afghan soldier are reported dead.

Australian soldier is injured in a raid on an "insurgent" drug laboratory. The exact date of the incident is not given, but it is reported today. I put "insurgent" in quotes because I'm not sure what the distinction is between insurgent and non-insurgent drug laboratories. Are there Afghan government drug labs?

U.S. military identifies Sgt. Joseph D'Augustine of Waldwick, N.J., killed in action on Tuesday. D'Augustine was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, part of the Second Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

UK Diplomat Alistair Burt decries the corrupt Afghan government. Note: The article calls him "Foreign Office Secretary." He is a Conservative MP and he is Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. -- C

U.S. adopts measures to protect its troops from the Afghan allies who they are liberating. These include "guardian angels," fellow troops who will watch over them as they sleep; making sure they do not sit with their backs to doors; carrying weapons inside Afghan government facilities; and other unspecified measures.

Human Rights Watch reports that the liberation has yet to reach at least half the population, as hundreds of Afghan women are currently jailed for "moral" crimes such as running away from abusive husbands and being raped.

U.S. investigators have not been given access to the scene of the Panjwai massacre, potentially imperiling any prosecution. (The linked article also has additional details about the story military officials are telling about what happened that night, which is growing ever more bizarre. Supposedly, Bales went out and killed a bunch of people, then came back onto the base, awakened his roommate, and declared that he had been off base murdering Afghans. Then he left the base again and killed some more people. Since talking to his roommate, he is said to have totally clammed up.)

Local officials call for military intervention after Pakistani Taliban reportedly overrun several districts in Nuristan. "Ghulamullah Nuristani, the security chief in Nuristan, says the militants captured the Kamdesh and Bargmatal districts of Nuristan two weeks ago and have torched dozens of homes and threatened to kill local villagers who work for the Afghan government." NATO no longer has any forces in the province.

2 comments:

Dancewater said...

looks like a really fucked up situation there in Afghanistan, just like Iraq .... hopefully, the Afghan people will kick the US military out (like Iraq did) soon......

Dancewater said...

In honoring their memory, I write their names below, and the little we know about them: that nine of them were children, three were women.
The dead:
Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed Juma
Nazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Zahra daughter of Abdul Hamid
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali
The wounded:
Haji Mohamed Naim son of Haji Sakhawat
Mohamed Sediq son of Mohamed Naim
Parween
Rafiullah
Zardana
Zulheja