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, March 10, 2012

War News for Saturday, March 10, 2012

Turkish jets strike north Iraq: rebels

Iraq Oil Outlook Overly Ambitious

Officials: Yemen forces target militant hideouts, killing 18

Pakistan Picks New Director for Spy Agency


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan police official says insurgents attacked a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan and that two border policemen and three attackers were killed in the ensuing firefight. Regional border police spokesman Edris Mohmand says insurgents assaulted the checkpoint in Lalpur district of Nangarhar province Friday. The area is near the border with Pakistan. The assault resulted in a three-hour gunbattle between the police and the assailants.

#2: Four civilians were killed and one more wounded by a NATO air strike in the northeastern Kapisa province overnight, local officials said.

#3: Afghan and foreign troops killed two insurgents and detained 27 more during joint operations in several parts of the country, the Ministry of Interior said.

Pakistan
#1: Pakistani fighter jets bombed four militant hideouts in the Khadezai and Mamozai areas of the northwestern Orakzai tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, killing 21 militants and wounding 23 military officials said. There was no way to independently confirm the death toll. Militants often dispute official death figures.

#2: An American missile attack killed 12 terrorists on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border on Friday, one of only a handful of such strikes this year, Pakistani officials said. The missile struck in the Mandao district of South Waziristan, a rugged terrorist stronghold where the Pakistan Army has staged offensives in the past, the officials said, giving no further details.

#3: Taliban militants armed with guns and rockets ambushed a military convoy on Friday, killing seven soldiers and injuring two in North Waziristan, officials said. The attack took place at the Khar Kamar area of Datta Khel tehsil, 30 kilometres west of Miramshah. Security officials said nine militants were also killed in the attack, but there was no independent confirmation of the toll. “After the ambush, military helicopters and troops retaliated and there were reports of deaths of nine militants,” an intelligence official said.

Posted by whisker at 3:22 AM

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