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, March 9, 2013

War News for Saturday, March 09, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of an USFOR-A soldier. Spc. Cody D. Suggs died from a non-combat related incident at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan on Friday, March 7th. Here’s NATO’s release.


Reported security incidents
#1: A civilian contractor and two Afghan soldiers were killed on a U.S. base yesterday afternoon when three men wearing Afghan National Army uniforms stormed the gate and began firing, military officials said, in what appeared to be the second insider attack on Western troops this year. The shooting, at Forward Operating Base Tagab in the northern province of Kapisa, also wounded four coalition troops before the attackers were killed, officials said.Officials were unsure about whether the attackers were Afghan soldiers or impostors. The attack began about 1:30 p.m., when the three uniformed men slammed an Afghan army vehicle into the main gate of the coalition base, officials said. A firefight then broke out, resulting in the deaths of the attackers, two Afghan soldiers and the civilian contractor.

#2: A suicide bomber on a bicycle killed nine people outside the defence ministry in central Kabul on Saturday during a visit to the Afghan capital by new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The blast occurred near the main entrance gate of the heavily-guarded ministry, and Taliban militants immediately claimed the attack was timed to send a message to Hagel, who arrived in Kabul late on Friday. Police said in a statement that nine civilians had died and 13 others were injured including two military personnel, without giving further details.
#3: In another suicide attack on Saturday, eight children and a policeman were killed in the eastern city of Khost in a strike that targeted a joint Afghan and international troop patrol.

#4: An explosion inside the Jamia Masjid near Meena Bazaar has left 4 dead including the Imaam of the mosque while 28 others were injured, Geo News reported. The Explosion took place inside the Jamia Masjid Bilal located in Mohala Baqir Shah near the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar.


DoD: Spc. Cody D. Suggs

Posted by whisker at 5:15 AM

1 comments:

Dancewater said...

The aftermath of our evil war of aggression on Iraq:

IDP's finding little refuge in Iraq

March 9, 2013 at 11:17 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)