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


Monday, November 12, 2012

War News for Monday, November 12, 2012

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an insider attack by small arms fire/gunshot wounds at Forward Operating Base Shawqat in the Nad 'Ali district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, November 11th. Here’s the ISAF release.
 
NATO is reporting the death of a USF-A soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, November 11th.
 
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, November 12th.


Reported security incidents
#1: “Four civilians were killed in Nez Naarai village, in Shawal area of South Waziristan, when Afghan forces fired mortar shells from across the border,” a security official based in Peshawar told AFP. A second security official said the victims were collecting wood and were hit by the mortar shells as they loaded it into a vehicle.

#2: A would-be suicide bomber was killed and another injured in an exchange of fire with police in Assadabad, capital of eastern Afghan province of Kunar, on Monday, provincial police chief Awaz Mohammad Nazari said. "Two suicide bombers equipped with suicide vests and pistols were attempting to target police in Assadabad city at around 08:30 a.m. local time but police identified and opened fire at them, killing one on the spot and injuring another," Nazari told Xinhua. A police officer was slightly injured during clash, he admitted.

 
DoD: Spc. Daniel L. Carlson

DoD: Kenneth W. Bennett

Posted by whisker at 3:28 AM

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