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, December 1, 2012

War News for Saturday, December 01, 2012


German troops close 2 bases in northern Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Three Taliban militants were killed in a gun battle in the eastern province of Nuristan on Saturday, provincial police chief Ghulam Mohammad Nuristani said. “A group of Taliban rebels raided police checkpoint in Barg-e- Matal district this morning and police returned fire killing three rebels on the spot and forcing others to flee,” Nuristani told Xinhua, adding there were no casualties on police. Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit told media by telephone from unknown location that two Taliban fighters and two police were killed in the gun battle.

#2: The Interior Ministry said 24 Taliban were killed in various security operations across in eastern Kunar and central Uruzgan provinces. A statement from the ministry said that in the last 24-hour military operations conducted by Afghan military troops and the International Security and Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Kunduz, Jawzjan, Kandahar provinces. Seven militants were killed and three other injured in these operations and security forces also seized heavy and light weapons plus three motorcycles. While another 11 militants were killed in Kunar when ISAF carried out an air strike. Kunar province chief Brig Gen Euoz Muhammad Nazeri said the militants attacked Afghan National Army and ISAF convoys, and in retaliation the international troops carried out air attacks, killing 11 militants. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said two militants were killed in the clash and their fighters destroyed two ISAF army vehicles. Meanwhile, security forces shot dead six Taliban militants in Charchino district in central Uruzgan province on Friday morning.

#3: An unmanned aircraft belonging to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed in the southeastern province of Paktika, the multinational troops said on Saturday. The aircraft crashed on Friday in a remote part of Zarghun Shahar district of the province due to a mechanical failure and was later intentionally destroyed by the coalition troops, said an ISAF statement.

#4: At least four people were killed and three others injured as U.S. drones fired two missiles at a house suspected of being a militant hideout in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of South Waziristan on Saturday, reported local media Geo.

#5: A suicide car bomb that rocked Deh Rawad district in Uruzgan province 370 km south of Kabul left three civilians dead and injured four others on Saturday, police said. "A terrorist equipped with suicide vest and driving a car blew himself up next to a police van in a bazaar in Deh Rawad district at around 04:00 p.m. local time killing three civilians including two children on the spot, and injured four more civilians," provincial police spokesman Farid Ayel told Xinhua. There were no casualties on police, he contended.

Posted by whisker at 5:02 AM

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