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, February 22, 2013

War News for Friday, February 22, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, February 22nd.


NATO Plan Tries to Avoid Sweeping Cuts in Afghan Troops

National Guard (In Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of Feburary 12, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: A policeman was killed and two wounded in a hand-grenade attack in Kandahar City, capital of Kandahar province on Thursday, an official said. A police vehicle came under a hand-grenade attack in Dand Square of Kandahar city, killing a cop aboard the vehicle and wounding two more, Javed Faisal, spokesman for Kandahar governor, told AIP.

#2: Taliban kill two cops: The Taliban allegedly killed two Afghan Local Police personnel and captured six more alive in Kohistanat district of Sar-i-Pul province, officials said Thursday. The Taliban attacked a checkpost of the Afghan Local Police in Sopak area of Kohistanat district yesterday, killing a commander identified as Kamaluddin and his deputy, the Sar-i-Pul police chief Abdul Rauf Taj told AIP. The Taliban also captured six more Afghan Local Police personnel in the area, he added. He said backup teams had been sent to the area to secure release of captured policemen.

#3: Combined force allegedly killed four civilians in Kunduz district, capital of northern Kunduz province on Thursday, local resident said. Afghan and foreign forces raided the house of a local resident, Saifur Rahman, at approximately 1:30 a.m. (local time), killing him, his two sons, Dilarwa and 18-year-old Hayatullah, residents of Khwaja Ghaltan area, 20 km to northwest of Kunduz City, told a correspondent of Afghan Islamic Press who visited the area. He said the combined force also raided an adjacent house, killing owner of the house, Abdul Haq.

Posted by whisker at 4:23 AM

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