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


Thursday, May 9, 2013

War News for Thursday, May 09, 2013


US wants to keep nine bases in Afghanistan: Karzai

NZ troops transport tonnes of supplies out of Afghanistan

Gunmen seize former PM Gilani’s son during Pakistan election rally

Pakistani court terms U.S. drone strikes against UN charter


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan police were accused of killing eight protesters at a demonstration on Wednesday as the U.S.-led coalition said it had opened an investigation into allegations of misconduct by NATO troops during an encounter with insurgents. Both incidents occurred in southern Afghanistan where violence has escalated in recent weeks after a Taliban announcement launching the start of its spring offensive. Villagers in the town of Maiwand said Afghan police opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting raids that Afghan and NATO forces conducted in their village of Loye Karez two days earlier. Accounts differed as to whether the eight killed were unarmed protesters or militants. Ten other people were wounded.

#2: Elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, three people were killed when their vehicle triggered an explosive device in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. Another six people were injured.

#3: The Taliban subordinated individuals hidden inside the protestors in Kandhar’s anti-Pakistani incursion exploded three electricity towers in Maiwand district, an official said Thursday. Governor spokesman, Jaweed Faisal in a statement said that misusing the feeling of the outreached Afghans a number of the insurgents’ affiliated individuals turned the protest violent, blowing three electricity towers and blazing some provincial installations in Maiwand district.

#4: According to local authorities in western Farah province of Afghanistan, at least six Afghan security forces were killed and four others were injured following Taliban militants ambush. A local security official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the incident took place on Tuesday after Taliban militants ambushed a convoy of the Afghan security forces in Karwangah area at Bala Bolok district.

Posted by whisker at 4:03 AM

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