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, March 27, 2012

War News for Tuesday, March 27, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a shooting incident from an Afghan Policeman in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, March 26th.


NYTimes: Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds

George Galloway attacked over soldier comments at Bradford West debate


Reported security incidents
#1: An Australian aid adviser injured in an apparent suicide attack in Afghanistan is being taken care of, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says. The man is an AusAID adviser deployed through the Australian Civilian Corps and was working in Uruzgan with local communities on development projects, foreign minister Bob Carr said in a statement on Tuesday. The ABC named the injured man as 49-year-old Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) worker and former Australian Federal Police officer David Savage. AusAID declined to confirm or deny this, saying only that the man's condition was serious but stable. Ms Gillard said the man involved "in work outside the wire" - which means he was outside of the Tarin Kowt NATO military base in south-central Afghanistan when he was injured. AusAID said the man was leaving a community meeting in the Chora Valley when the attack occurred.

#2: Afghan special forces and NATO troops have killed a senior commander of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in northwestern Afghanistan, the NATO force said on Tuesday. The IMU - which emerged from the Ferghana Valley that is shared between Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - has cooperated with al Qaeda elements and the Afghan Taliban to try to establish an Islamic Caliphate. Makhdum Nusrat, the "highest-ranking IMU insurgent operating in the country", was killed on Monday in Faryab province in northwestern Afghanistan along with several other fighters, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

#3: Afghan interior ministry following a press release on Tuesday announced at least 18 armed militants were killed and injured and 7 others were detained following Afghan police forces military operations. The source further added, the militants were killed, injured and detained in 13 separate military operations conducted by Afghan national police forces during the past 24 hours. The operations were conducted in conjunction with the Afghan national army, Afghan intelligence and coalition security forces at Kabul, Nangarhar, Faryab, Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul, Ghazni and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan, the statement added. At least 14 insurgents were killed, four of them were injured and 7 others were detained by Afghan security forces.

#4: An heavy explosion rocked eastern Nangahar province on Tuesday morning, killing and injuring a number of Afghan civilians and security forces. The incident took palce around 10:00 am local time at Pacheragam district in Kata Kheli area while a number of the counter-narcotics campaign officials were visiting the area. According to the local residents, at least 6 Afghan army soldiers and an Afghan civilian were killed and several others including Afghan security forces were injured. Unconfirmed reports suggest Afghan security forces opened fire following the explosion which killed and injured a number of the Afghan civilians. An Afghan local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said, an Afghan national army soldier was killed and two others were injured while an Afghan civilian was killed during the explosion.


DoD: Capt. Aaron D. Istre

DoD: Sgt. Daniel J. Brown

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