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


Monday, March 25, 2013

War News for Monday, March 25, 2013

The dod is reporting the death of Sgt. 1st Class James F. Grissom at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Thursday, March 21st. He was originally wounded from a small arms weapon attack in Paktika Province, Afghanistan on Monday, March 18th.
 
The DoD is also reporting the death of Sgt. Tristan M. Wade who died from an IED blast in Qarah Bagh District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan on Friday, March 22nd.


US to cede full control of Bagram to Afghan forces


Reported security incidents
#1: Two Afghan civilians were killed and five were wounded in a roadside bombing in the country’s northern province of Faryab on Monday, police said. “Two civilians were killed and five others wounded when a civilian vehicle touched off a roadside bomb in Khwaja Sabz Posh district early Monday morning,” provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhil told Xinhua.

#2: The death toll from a suicide bombing on a military checkpost in Pakistan's North Waziristan region has reached 17, the military said on Sunday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Saturday, which prompted the regional government to impose a curfew in the tribal region near the Afghan border. The military responded with mortar and artillery fire directed at positions held by the Taliban. Another 10 soldiers were also wounded in the attack on a check post operated jointly by the regular army and the Frontier Corps paramilitary.

#3: According to local authorities in north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants abducted at least 10 Afghan national army soldiers along with a doctor in this province. Provincial governor spokesman Abdul Maroof Rasukh confirming the report said the individuals were abducted by Taliban militants during a military operation in Wardoj district around 3 days back.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class James F. Grissom

DoD: Sgt. Tristan M. Wade

Posted by whisker at 3:57 AM

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