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, January 22, 2013

War News for Tuesday, January 22, 2013


Cold weather kills 17 Afghan ‘refugees’


Reported security incidents
#1: Three Australian special forces soldiers have been wounded in a shoot-out with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, with two needing to be flown to Australia for treatment. The soldiers from the Special Operations Task Group, which includes the SAS regiment and the 2nd Commando regiment, were on an operation to ''disrupt insurgent networks'' in Uruzgan province on Saturday.

#2: At least two personnel of Pakistan army were martyred and nine others were injured on Monday when their vehicle hit a landmine in Mohmand Agency, officials said. According to security officials, a vehicle of the security forces hit a landmine in Dozai area of the Mohmand Agency in the restive tribal region.

#3: At least eight militants were killed and four others wounded Tuesday when US drones fired missiles at militant compounds in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, security officials said. The missiles struck militant compounds in the villages of Haider Khel and Hasookhel some 25 kilometres east of Miramshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal district, a stronghold of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants. “US drones fired missiles on two militant compounds. At least eight militants have been killed,” a security official in Miranshah told AFP. The two attacks occurred within an hour, with four militants killed in each compound, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

#4: Up to 15 militants have been killed when a NATO drone launched an attack in eastern Afghan province of Nuristan, police said on Tuesday. "An unmanned plane with the coalition forces attacked a suspected compound in a remote area in Bazgul area of Kamdesh district Monday evening, killing 15 militants," a senior official with the Afghan border police in eastern region, Shams-ul-Rahman, told Xinhua.




Posted by whisker at 4:33 AM

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