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, March 26, 2013

War News for Tuesday, March 26, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: At least 10 British troops have been injured in a suspected suicide car bomb attack on a patrol base in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The insurgents followed up the blast with small arms fire on the base in Nad Ali, one of the districts where UK troops have been based during their time in the country. Five insurgents were killed in the attack on the base on Monday night, which is jointly operated by the Afghan army and troops from Nato's International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf).

#2: A group of seven suicide bombers attacked a police base in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday, killing five officers, police said. One bomber set off a large explosion at the entrance of the quick reaction police headquarters before two bombers blew themselves up inside the facility and four others died in a gun fight with police. “The first one detonated a car bomb; two others entered the base and detonated themselves and the remaining four were shot dead in police fire,”Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, the Nangarhar province police spokesman, told AFP.

#3: On Monday evening, a total of 27 Taliban militants had been killed in a clash which broke out during a poppy-eradication camping in Garmser district in Helmand province 555 km south of Kabul, the provincial governor Mohammad Naim said Tuesday. "An Afghan army officer and a policeman were also killed in the fighting lasting for hours,"Naim told Xinhua, adding one cop was also wounded in the attack.

#4: In addition, up to 11 militants have been killed when army carried out a cleanup operation in Helmand's Marja district, said senior army official Gen. Seyyed Maluk. In neighboring Nad Ali district, an army soldier was wounded when a Taliban suicide bomber set off his explosive-laden truck near army outpost Monday night.

Posted by whisker at 4:26 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)