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


Saturday, August 4, 2012

War News for Saturday, August 04, 2012

Rockets Attacks Continue In East

Nato supplies via Torkham resumes after 12 day hiatus

U.S. Begins Packing Its Afghan War Gear for the Movers


Reported security incidents
#1: A soldier from Shelby Township was killed Wednesday in an explosion that injured four other Michigan soldiers during combat operations in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Friday. the combat engineer had been in Afghanistan for about six weeks after tours in Korea and Iraq. The soldiers were clearing roadways of improvised explosive devices (IED) when he was killed, she said.
"They had to get out of the vehicles and had to do foot search and that's when he met the IED," his mother said.

#2: Afghan police say a remote-controlled bomb in a busy market has killed two policemen and one civilian in the country’s northwest. The explosion went off as shoppers were hurrying to buy food to break the day’s fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Faryab provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Khaliq Asye said Saturday that the explosives were detonated remotely and appeared to target police, who had stopped at the market in Ghormach district about 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Kabul, the capital. The blast came after 6 p.m. Friday, prime shopping hour for iftar, the meal marking the end of the daily fast.

#3: At least 30 people have suffered injuries in an explosion in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province. According to local authorities, the blast took place inside a mosque where worshippers were holding Friday prayers.

#4: At least three containers were set on fire in Dasht area of Mastung district here on Friday night. According to Levies Force Balochistan, three containers were heading towards Quetta from Karachi and were passing from Dasht area when some armed men intercepted the vehicles and set ablaze all three containers after dismounting drivers and cleaners.

#5: Afghan officials on Friday (Aug. 03) said Taliban targeted government installations and security forces in eight districts of eastern Kunar province including provincial capital, injuring five persons. Taliban, however, claimed government troops suffered heavy casualties. Said Fazlullah Waheedi, governor of Kunar province, told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) that Taliban gunmen attacked government facilities in provincial capital Asadabad, Marwara, Manogi, Chapadara, Dangam, Shegal and Sokai districts earlier today. He said five people including three girls and two policemen were wounded in these attacks. Local security officials, however, said a woman and a child were killed and a cop among five wounded in the Taliban attacks. In another development, he said, coalition forces conducted three air strikes in a mountainous area of Wattapur district today, killing 18 anti-government gunmen.

#6: A Nato helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan on Friday, Isaf said today in a statement. "All crew members have been recovered with no reported fatalities and the site of the incident is secure," the statement said.

#7: Afghan police and army, backed by the NATO-led coalition forces, have killed nine Taliban insurgents over the past 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said on Saturday. "One armed Taliban insurgent was injured and three others detained by the joint forces during the five joint cleanup operation carried out in Kabul, Balkh, Paktika and Pakita provinces over the last 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

#8: Up to 12 insurgents killed and 23 others detained in operations carried out by the Afghan forces and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in eastern Afghan provinces over the past 24 hours, the ISAF's Regional Command-East (RC-East) said in a statement issued here Saturday morning.


DoD: 1st Lt. Todd W. Lambka

DoD: Pfc. Jesus J. Lopez


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