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, November 16, 2012

War News for Friday, November 16, 2012

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED blast at a base in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, November 16th.


Reported security incidents
#1: At least two members of a Pakistani paramilitary force have been killed and several others injured in a bomb attack in the southwestern province of Balochistan, Press TV reports. A car bomb targeted a Frontier Corps (FC) center in Zohab district of the province on Friday. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

#2: At least four people including two troops were killed in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s southwest province of Balochistan on Friday morning, said an officer. Talat Masood, a commander of Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakistan, which is mainly responsible for the country’s border safety, said that the blast took place early Friday morning in Zhob, a small town in northern Balochistan, which is about 50 kilometers away from the Afghan border. FC personnel on routine patrol stopped a suspected car for check near a FC headquarters in Zhob and one of the two persons sitting in the car blew himself up, killing two FC personnel right on the spot, said Masood, adding that the suicide bomber and his accomplice were also killed in the blast.

#3: The Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops have eliminated two insurgents and detained two in restive eastern Afghan provinces within a 24-hour period, the coalition forces confirmed in a press release issued from Bagram, the main U.S. base in the country, on Friday.

#4: Up to 11 Afghan civilians, including seven women and four children, were killed and four were wounded Friday afternoon when a vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in the country's western province of Farah, a provincial source told Xinhua.

#5: According to local authorities in north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, a number of Taliban militants on ambushed a police check post on Thursday night in Wardaj district. District police chief Asadullah confirming the report said at least 4 Afghan police officers were killed and 2 others were injured following the clashes. This comes as at least 8 Afghan police officers were killed after Taliban militants ambushed Afghan security forces in Kohi-e-Ghanio area in this district.

#6: In a separate incident earlier Taliban militants kidnapped 16 Afghan police officers and killed 4 of them in Bashin area of Wardaj district.

#7: According to local authorities in western Nimroz province of Afghanistan, unknown gunmen on Thursday evening shot dead a local tribal elder and former deputy justice department in this province. Provincial security chief Haji Mosa Rasool confirming the report said the incident took place after unknown gunmen riding motorcycle opened fire on Mawlavi Ghulam Sarwar Baloch and killed him. Mr. Rasool further added the incident took place late Thursday evening in Zaranj city.

Posted by whisker at 4:09 AM

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