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


Monday, August 20, 2012

War News for Monday, August 20, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Spc. James A. Justice died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Friday, August 17th. He was wounded in a small arms fire attack in Wardak province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 18th.

The NZDF is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from a roadside bombing in the North West of Do Abe, on the road to FOB Romero, Bamyan province, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 19th. Here’s the ISAF release.

 
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from small arms fire by an Afghan police officer in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 19th.
 

New Zealand signals earlier exit from Afghanistan

Sisters of Bingley former soldier demand answers over Afghan disaster


Reported security incidents
#1: American drones fired a flurry of missiles in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan Sun-day, killing a total of 10 suspected militants, Pakistani officials said. In the first strike, missiles fired from unmanned American spy planes hit two vehicles near the Afghan border, killing at least seven militants, Pakistani officials said.  About 10 hours later on Sun-day, two missiles destroyed a home also in the Mana area, killing three militants, the officials said.

#2: The former Sindh Assembly lawmaker, Raheem Baksh Jamali, who was shot and injured in a mosque in Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) on Sunday, succumbed to his wounds on Monday in a Karachi hospital, Geo News reported. Reportedly, unknown gunmen attacked a mosque-bound Jamlai, who was observing Itikaf – an Islamic practice consisting of a period of retreat in a mosque during the month of Ramadan, especially the last ten days. According to reports, the attackers, four in number, who knew exactly where to find him, got him in the main mosque in Cooperative Housing Society in Shaheed Benazirabad at 5:30 AM in the morning.


DoD: Pfc. Michael R. Demarsico II

DoD: Spc. James A. Justice

MoD: Guardsman Jamie Shadrake

NZDF: CPL Luke Douglas Tamatea

NZDF: LCPL Jacinda Francis Elyse Baker

NZDF: PTE Richard Lee Harris


Posted by whisker at 4:12 AM

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

the irony

An insurgent rocket attack on a US air base in Afghanistan has damaged the plane of America's top military officer while he was on a visit there.

Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was not near the plane at the time but two US maintenance crew were slightly injured.

The attack happened late on Monday night at the US air base in Bagram.

He was in Afghanistan to discuss a growing number of attacks against Nato soldiers by Afghan security personnel.

August 21, 2012 at 2:41 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)