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 17, 2012

War News for Saturday, March 17, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, March 15th.


Reported security incidents
#1: Four armed insurgents were killed and a woman injured during a joint operation in northern Afghan province of Faryab on Saturday, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. "An Afghan and coalition security force conducted an operation in search of an insurgent leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in Shirin Tagab district, Faryab province, today," the ISAF said in a press release. Four armed insurgents were killed in shoot-out during the raid on a building, including one who fired on the joint forces from behind women and children leaving the building, said the release. One Afghan civilian female was wounded during the exchange.

#2: According to local authorities in eastern Khost province, at least 3 Afghan civilians were injured following an explosion in this province. The officials further added, the incident took place around 11:00 am local time in a shop located near the Medicins San Frontieres hospital. Provincial security chief and acting provincial police chief Mohammad Yaqoob said, the explosives were packed inside a furniture production equipment.

#3: Afghan Defense Ministry following a press release on Saturday announced at least 2 Afghan National Army soldiers were injured while conducting their duties in southern Kandahar western Herat provinces of Afghanistan. The two Afghan army soldiers were injured at Maiwand district of southern Helmand province and Gulistan district of western Herat province. Defense officials did not disclose further information on how the two soldiers were injured.

Posted by whisker at 4:15 AM

1 comments:

Cervantes said...

It appears Afghanistan and the U.S. exist in parallel universes. While all the attention in the U.S. is on the identification of the alleged mass murderer Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, in Afghanistan the authorities have concluded that the massacre was perpetrated by at least 15 soldiers operating in two squads, with air support, and that the entire story told by the U.S. is a lie. This uncomfortable reality has not, as far as I can tell, been generally reported by U.S. corporate media. They're just ignoring it.

March 17, 2012 at 5:04 AM

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