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


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

War News for Tuesday, October 30, 2012


Reported security incidents
#1: Security forces on Monday pounded suspected hideouts of militants in Bara town of the Khyber tribal region killing as many as 10 Taliban and injuring six others, security sources said. Gunship helicopters also took part in what appeared to be one of the heaviest bombardments of suspected hideouts of Taliban, sources added. The assault followed a clash in the Akakhel area of Bara leaving a soldier dead and three others injured, sources added. Unconfirmed reports said security forces also used long-range artillery to pound the hideouts and posh Hayatabad residential area resounded with the artillery fire. Armed militants had ambushed a security forces convoy leading to the clash between the militants and security forces. Following the clash, security forces assisted by gunship helicopters targeted militant hideouts in the Akakhel area, killing 10 militants and injuring six others, the official sources said.

#2: Unidentified armed men opened fire on an oil tanker late Monday night killing one person and injuring two others in Dushi district of Baghlan province 160 km north of Kabul, an official said Tuesday. The oil tanker was also caught fire and turned to ashes, he asserted.

#3: An Afghan army officer says a pre-dawn raid in the eastern province of Ghazni killed four Taliban and three civilian bystanders. Lt. Ghulam Sarwer Attai, who commanded the special army unit which carried out Monday's raid along with NATO forces, said it was in Qalai-i-Qazi area of Ghazni.

#4: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, over 100 missiles have been fired from Pakistan during the latest wave of cross-border shelling in this province. The officials further added the missiles were fired by Pakistani military forces landed in Dangam district. Provincial governor Wasifullah Wasifi said the cross-border incursion by Pakistani military did not cause any casualties to local residents however property damages were reported following the shelling.

#5: Afghan National Army troops and their partnered U.S. Special Forces were ambushed by insurgents in Wardak Province, October 29. Partnered Forces were attacked by small-arms fire and rocket propelled grenades by more than a dozen insurgents. The partnered forces returned fire resulting in three insurgents killed.

#6: Units of Afghan police during series of operations have killed a dozen Taliban militants across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a press release here on Tuesday. "The police during operations carried out in Kapisa, Balkh, Zabul and Ghazni provinces have killed 12 Taliban rebels over the past 24 hours," the statement contended.

Posted by whisker at 4:48 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)