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


Thursday, July 5, 2012

War News for Thursday, July 05, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 4th.


First NATO truck crosses into Afghanistan after 7-month closure ends


Reported security incidents
#1: A roadside bomb has struck a US-led Italian military convoy in Afghanistan’s Herat Province. The soldiers were traveling in the Gozra district of western Herat Province when the bomb went off on Thursday. No causalities were reported.

#2: Fresh US military operations have claimed the lives of at least two civilians in the troubled southern Afghanistan. The attack came in the Nad-Ali district in the southern Helmand Province as the US forces were reportedly looking for militants in the volatile region. After hearing heavy firing, two men went on the roof-top of their home, but were shot dead by the Americans.

#3: Afghan army and police, backed by the NATO-led coalition troops, have eliminated 27 Taliban insurgents and detained 16 others during operations within the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Thursday morning. "The joint forces carried out six cleanup operations in Baghlan, Kandahar, Wardak, Paktia, Farah and Helmand provinces and one more armed Taliban insurgent was injured during the raids," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates to media.

#4: At least three persons were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a car carrying government officials near Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta on Wednesday, local media reported. Local Urdu TV channel Dawn reported that the incident happened at about 5:00 p.m. (local time) when a car with five people onboard was targeted by two gunmen riding a motorcycle in Kuchlak, a place some 24 kilometers southwest of Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan province. Police said the victims were officials of a government-owned office in Quetta and they were on their way to Quetta.


DoD: Pfc. Cody O. Moosman

Posted by whisker at 4:10 AM

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