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


Thursday, February 21, 2013

War News for Thursday, February 21, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: Two officers with police special forces and four insurgents, including a commander, were killed Thursday during a raid on a house in northern Afghanistan, a police spokesman said, dpa reported. A German soldier was wounded in the operation, which Afghan and NATO-led troops conducted in Kunduz, the capital of the province with the same name, said Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, Kunduz police spokesman.

#2: At least one person was killed while 18 others were injured when an explosion ripped through a busy mobile phone market here on Thursday. Several shops were also destroyed in the blast which was planted inside the market. Police said the blast took place in a market situated near Faqeer Abad bridge in Hasht Nagri area of Peshawar.

#3: At least 14 militants were killed when Pakistani jets pounded their hideouts in Tirah Valley’s Dwatoi on Wednesday, according to a security official. The official said several more militants were injured during the bombing, but they could not provide an accurate figure. He added the numbers could not be ascertained as the militants had moved their injured comrades and the bodies to an undisclosed location in Tirah Valley.

#4: The press sources of national defense ministry said that during cleansing operation in Herat province casualties inflected to armed insurgents. The sources said 11 armed rebels were killed and 7 others wounded during Naweed 5 operation in the relevant areas of Herat province. According to defense ministry, the operation conducted by Zafar 207 army crops personnel in the relevant areas of Robat Sangi district of Herat, in which 11 armed rebels were killed and 7 others wounded. According to another report, other operation was launched in the outskirts of Shindand district of Herat province, a talib was killed and one outer wounded.

Posted by whisker at 4:08 AM

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