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 30, 2013

War News for Thursday, May 30, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, May 30th.


Major attack on Afghan capital 'thwarted'

Lawyer: Soldier to plead guilty in killing of 16 Afghan villagers

British Defense Chief Confirms Detentions of Afghans at Base


Reported security incidents
#1: Two attackers and a security guard were killed on Wednesday during an assault on a Red Cross building in Afghanistan and a gun battle between police and militants, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Insurgents stormed the International Committee of the Red Cross building in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan. Afghan parliament member Haji Hazrat Ali told CNN the incident started with one attacker blowing himself up and others entering the building. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said forces surrounded the building and engaged in a gun battle with the attackers. Seven foreign nationals were rescued and one ICRC foreign staffer was slightly injured, he said.

#2: At least 17 militants were killed and several others injured when Pakistani jets bombed militant hideouts in the Kurram tribal region during a security forces operation on Thursday, local media reported. The militants were killed when four insurgent hideouts were destroyed in the action in central Kurram's Tabay area. Moreover, several militants were also injured, official sources told reporters.

#3: Twenty-two insurgents have been killed in eastern Afghan provinces during operations started on Wednesday, said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Thursday. "Afghan National Security and Coalition Forces killed 22 insurgents, detained one suspected insurgent and found and safely cleared 11 improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours," the ISAF's Regional Command-East said in a statement. The raids were conducted in Paktiya, Paktika, Khost, Nangarhar, Panjshir and Wardak provinces, the statement added.

#4: Commandos from the 2nd and 6th Special Operations Kandak killed four insurgents and detained 86 insurgents in Tagab district, Kapisa province, May 28. The Commandos killed and apprehended the insurgents while conducting clearing operations in Alah Say and Bedraou valleys.

Posted by whisker at 3:47 AM

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