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, April 4, 2012

War News for Wednesday, April 04, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, April 3rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, April 3rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, April 3rd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED blast in an undisclosed area in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 4th.


Afghanistan to be cleared of mines within the next 10 years

Deal Close on Night Raids, U.S. and Afghan Officials Say



Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least 10 people and wounded 26 on Wednesday in a northern Afghan province, officials and police said. Lal Mohammad Ahmad Zai, a police spokesman for northern Afghanistan, said the bomber blew himself up in Maimanah, the capital of Faryab province. It was not clear what the target was. Zai said of the 10 people killed, four were police officers and the rest were civilians — including two women and two children. Earlier, NATO said two of its service members were also killed in a bomb explosion on Wednesday in northern Afghanistan. It provided no other details about the attack or the nationalities of the two. It was unclear if the two incidents were related. So far this year, 96 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan, including at least 52 Americans.

#2: A Pakistani government official says a bomb has ripped through a passenger van, killing six people in a violent region near the Afghan border. Iqbal Khan says Wednesday's blast occurred in Jamrud town in Khyber tribal region. Khan says the bomb was planted inside the van, and that it was unclear whether it was a remote controlled or a timed device.

#3: A series of Taliban attacks over the past two days have left 9 Afghan police officers dead and 14 missing, in the latest sign that insurgents are pressing their fight against security forces as the annual fighting season gets under way with the spring thaw.


NZDF: Corporal Douglas Hughes

DoD: Cpl. Michael J. Palacio

Posted by whisker at 3:10 AM

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