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, October 12, 2012

War News for Friday, October 12, 2012

The Georgian MoD is reporting the death of a Georgian soldier in Afghanistan. The release states few or no details on Corporal Mindia Abashidze death.


MOD statement on arrest of seven Royal Marines


Reported security incidents
#1:  U.S. drones fired four missiles at a compound of a Pakistani militant commander in a northwestern tribal region on Thursday, killing 16 militants. A government administrator in Orakzai region, Salim Khan, said 12 insurgents were also wounded in the drone attack near Biland village bordering the North Waziristan tribal region. Three Pakistani intelligence officials said the dead and wounded men were fighters loyal to militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is based in North Waziristan.

#2: The Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops have eliminated six insurgents and captured 18 others in restive eastern Afghan provinces within a 24-hour period, the coalition forces confirmed in a press release issued from Bagram, the main US base in the country, on Friday. The joint forces killed six insurgents during engagements in Nerkh district and Sayyidabad district, Wardak province, 35 km west of Afghan capital Kabul, it said.
 
#3: According to reports two foreign nationals were abducted by unknown gunmen in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the two individuals were kidnapped in Syedabad district.


Geo/MoD: Corporal Mindia Abashidze

Posted by whisker at 4:16 AM

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