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, February 26, 2013

War News for Tuesday, February 26, 2013


Talk of Inquiry, but Not Much Is Sure After Afghan Ban on U.S. Troops


Reported security incidents
#1: At least one FC personnel was killed and six others were injured in a blast at the FC fort in Bara district of Khyber Agency on Monday. A powerful blast reportedly destroyed seven rooms of the garrison at Fort Slope Camp in Khajoori area of Tehsil Bara. The blast took place in a vehicle captured recently by the forces and which was parked inside the fort.

#2: Military aircraft on Monday pounded the Tirah Valley while security forces conducted an operation in Bara, killing seven terrorists. Several terrorist hideouts were also destroyed. Security sources said the aircraft targeted Kukikhel area and destroyed Taliban hideouts in Saravila and surrounding areas. Four Taliban were reportedly killed in the bombing. Three other terrorists were killed in an operation by the security forces in Bara.

#3: Up to 35 militants have been killed and 41 others wounded in an operation conducted by Afghan army in the country's western province of Herat and neighboring Badghis province, authorities said on Tuesday. "The Afghan army launched an one-week operation ending on Tuesday in Muquar district of Badghis and Kishk-e-Kohna district of Herat, killing 35 armed insurgents and wounding 41 others," deputy provincial governor Asilluddin Jami told Xinhua.

#4: Eight militants have been killed and 12 others detained in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. "Afghan National Police (ANP) carried out several cleanup operations in collaboration with army and the NATO-led coalition forces in Logar, Parwan, Ghazni, Khost, Samangan, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, killing eight armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 12 others over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

#5: At least one man was killed and a dozen others were injured when a bomb went off near a shrine in Pakistan's southern district of Shikarpur on Monday night, reported local Urdu TV channel Samaa.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Jonathan D. Davis

Posted by whisker at 4:26 AM

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

In Iraq news, Tony Blair said that Iraq is "not what he hoped" ten years after the illegal war of aggression that he kicked off.

And Rep. Walter Jones said that Cheney will likely "go to hell" for his part in the illegal war of aggression on Iraq.

Blair, Bush and Cheney, along with a whole lot of other people, deserve to spend their eternity in hell, if there is such a thing. In the meantime, they should be dropped in Baghdad without a penny and left to fend on their own for the rest of their natural born lives.

February 26, 2013 at 2:43 PM

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