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, September 15, 2012

War News for Saturday, September 15, 2012

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from a roadside bombing in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Friday, September 14th. Here’s the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in a undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, September 15th.


Reported security incidents
#1: Heavily armed insurgents attacked a British air base in southern Afghanistan Friday, killing two U.S. Marines and wounding several other troops, U.S. officials said. Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, is stationed at the base on a four-month combat tour. There was no immediate word on his whereabouts at the time of the attack. U.S. officials said the attack at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province involved a range of insurgent weaponry, possibly including mortars, rockets or rocket-propelled grenades, as well as small-arms fire. A number of aircraft at the base also were hit by insurgent fire, another U.S. official said.

A well-armed squad of attackers hit the installation's airfield with “indirect fire” and small-arms fire at about 10 p.m. Friday, damaging some aircraft and buildings, said a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF. Initial reports indicated that about 16 insurgents were killed.

#2: Up to 12 civilians, including 10 children, were killed in a roadside bombing in southern Afghan province of Helmand on Friday, a provincial government spokesman said Saturday morning. "A vehicle touched off a roadside bomb at around 2 p.m. local time in Goband area of Gereshk district and the powerful blast killed 12 innocent civilians," spokesman Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua.




Posted by whisker at 4:51 AM

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