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


Friday, August 31, 2012

War News for Friday, August 31, 2012



Reported security incidents
#1: Insurgent rockets killed five Afghan civilians Thursday while they were waiting on the side of a road for a bus in the east of the country, government officials said. Insurgents appeared to be aiming at a nearby Afghan army base but the rockets missed their target, said the deputy police chief for Logar province, Raeis Khan Rahimzai says another 10 people were wounded by the barrage in Baraki Barak district.
 
#2: Four private guards were killed and three more wounded after Taliban attack in Bala Balok district of Farah province, police said Thursday. Taliban gunmen attacked a logistic convoy of foreign forces in Gandab area of Bala Balok district, killing four guards and wounding three more, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for police in western Afghanistan, told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). He said four oil tankers and a heavy transport vehicle was also destroyed in the attack, adding the attackers also suffered casualties but they had no accurate details.

#3: At least 18 militants were killed on Thursday during an operation conducted by security forces in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of Bajaur agency, local media reported. Local media quoted security forces as saying that two commanders of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were also killed on Thursday during the operation.


AU/DoD: Corporal Mervyn McDonald

AU/DoD: Private Nathanael Galagher

Posted by whisker at 3:35 AM

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