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, April 20, 2013

War News for Saturday, April 20, 2013


Soldier wounded in Afghanistan returning home -snip- The 30-year-old Senkowski lost both his legs in October 2011 when an improvised explosive device exploded while he was serving in Afghanistan.

Gunmen kill Yemen intelligence officer


Reported security incidents
#1: An Australian soldier has been wounded while on duty in the Helmand province in Afghanistan. The Special Operations Task Group soldier suffered a minor fragmentation wound to the arm from a ricochet from a small arms round.

#2: A bomb blast at the main gate of a hospital in a lawless tribal area of northwest Pakistan Saturday killed at least four people and wounded four others, officials said. The explosion took place in Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan. Local administration official Abdul Haseeb confirmed the bombing and casualties and said it was not immediately clear if the bomb was detonated remotely or was a suicide attack.

#3: Twelve Taliban militants were killed as they came in contact with police in Ghazni province 125 km south of Kabul Friday night, a local official Mohammad Nazif Sultani said Saturday. "The personnel of local police were on routine patrol when they came in contact with Taliban rebels in Waziri village of Muqar district last night during which 12 rebels were killed," Sultani told Xinhua. However, he refused to say if there were any casualties on the security personnel.

#4: A 22-inch-diametre pipeline supplying gas to Punjab from Sui was blown up in the Kashmor area of Rajanpur on Friday. The police said that unidentified terrorists blew up the pipeline with explosives in Faiz Muhammad Goth, suspending gas supply to several areas of Punjab.

#5: Two Taliban militants were killed as their explosive device exploded prematurely in Baghlan province 160 km north of Kabul Friday night, police said Saturday. "Three Taliban rebels were busy in making mine inside a house in Baghlan-e-Markazi district last night but the device went off prematurely killing two on the spot and injuring another," district police chief Ghulam Sakhi Rustaqi told newsmen in a press briefing here.

#6: According to local authorities in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, at least 7 people including 2 civlians and 5 police forces were injured following a suicide attack in this province. The officials further added, the incident took place after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a joint convoy of Afghan and coalition security forces in Sangin district on Friday.

Posted by whisker at 5:19 AM

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