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


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

War News for Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Turkish warplanes hit Northern Iraq

Kyrgyzstan ready to shift U.S. Airbase to civilian facility: official


Reported security incidents
#1: A roadside bomb killed at least eight Afghan civilians travelling in a minibus in the southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, a local government official said. The bomb struck in the Marjah district of Helmand while travellers were on their way to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, said Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the governor.

#2: Blast rocked Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province, 450 km south of capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring two others, an official said. "The terrorists planted explosive device on a motorbike and detonated it in Kandahar city at around 12:20 p.m. local time today, as a result, one policeman was killed and two others sustained injuries," the official told Xinhua but declined to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media after completion of investigation. He also did not say if the injured men were police or civilians.

#3: Officials in the ministry of interior affairs of Afghanistan following a press release on Wednesday announced, at least 3 armed insurgents were killed and another insurgent was detained following military operation by Afghan National Police. The source further added, the militants were killed and detained following 6 separate military operations conducted by Afghan National Police in conjunction with the Afghan Army, Afghan Intelligence and Coalition Security Forces during the past 24 hours. The operations were conducted at Kunar, Nangarhar, Helmand, Nimroz and Herat provinces of Afghanistan.


Pakistan:
#1: US drone aircraft struck twice in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 15 suspected terrorists, including two senior terrorist commanders, security and intelligence officials said. In the first strike, a drone fired missiles at a vehicle in the Birmal area of the South Waziristan tribal region, killing eight.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Jesse J. Grindey

Posted by whisker at 3:33 AM

1 comments:

Cervantes said...

"Our silence is dangerous," said [Abdul Rahim] Ayoubi [MP from Pajwai], who was meeting with elders all day in Kandahar. "On the one hand, we no longer know who to complain to. The Taliban kill us, the international forces kills, and the government is helpless. There is no door left for us to knock on anymore," .

"I asked the elders here, why no demonstrations, no outcry? They say they are silent because they want to deliberate their moves, they want to decide. And once they decide, there will be no army, no force that can stop them. Sixteen were martyred, but they will give 80 lives, so another 20 can live in dignity."

March 14, 2012 at 10:54 AM

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