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, February 9, 2013

War News for Saturday, February 09, 2013


U.S. rejects U.N. report on children killed in Afghanistan

Afghanistan confirm UN report on children deaths in US operations


Reported security incidents
#1: update A NATO helicopter crashed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan, but no crew members were seriously injured, officials said. "Both members of the helicopter crew were recovered from the crash and neither was seriously injured," U.S. Army Maj. Adam Wojack said. "We do not yet have definitive information on whether or not enemy activity was present in the area at the time of the crash."

#2: A government official says a roadside bomb has struck a car in southern Afghanistan, killing six civilians. The spokesman for the governor of southern Helmand province said Saturday two women and four men were killed in the blast in the Nad Ali district.

#3: Seven militants have been killed in a US drone strike in the Babar Ghar area on the border of North and South Waziristan on Saturday, local media reported. The drone fired two missiles on a house, destroying it completely. Five others were also injured, sources said. The attack took place in Babar Ghar area of South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan. Two missiles struck a house in the village of Babar Ghar, a tribal district which is a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants. (QNA)
#4: At least 13 suspected militants were killed early Saturday when military jets pounded militant hideouts in the northwestern tribal region of upper Orakzai agency, security officials said. Local administration official Noman Ali Shah confirmed that the militants’ hideouts in Mamozai had been targeted by military jets Saturday morning and there were reports of casualties. “We have reports coming in from security sources that four militant’ hideouts have been destroyed in Mamozai area of upper Orakzai, while at least 13 militants have been killed in these strikes,” he said.


#5: Meanwhile, eight militants were reported to have been killed and several others injured in fresh clashes between the pro-government Ansarul Islam (AI) and outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) militants backed by Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) militant outfit in Tirah Valley of Khyber agency. The clashes, which had started last month between the outlawed extremist groups, subsided for a few days as scores of fighters were killed on both sides and many others were wounded. Gun fights erupted again Saturday morning in Tirah’s Sandapal area, leaving eight militants dead, intelligence officials said.

#6: Five Taliban militants were killed as Afghan police conducted operations against the armed outfit over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. The operations, according to the statement had been carried out in Nangarhar, Kunduz, Kandahar, Ghazni and Helmand provinces during which a number of arms and ammunitions including two anti- vehicle mines had been seized.

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

God bless the children who suffer so much from the evils of men.