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


Monday, July 15, 2013

War News for Monday, July 15, 2013


British Soldier Suicides Outnumber Afghanistan Deaths in Action

Rajanpur: 8 kidnapped policemen recovered after negotiations   


Reported security incidents
#1: Eleven militants have been killed and 18 others arrested in separate Afghan operations within the last 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday morning. The operations were conducted in Baghlan, Kandahar, Wardak and Helmand provinces. As a result 11 armed Taliban were killed, four wounded and 18 other armed Taliban were arrested, the ministry said in a press statement.

#2: On Sunday evening, two policemen were killed and five others wounded when a police mobile was struck by an IED in Nadir Shah Kot district of eastern KHost province, official confirmed earlier on Monday.

#3: An Afghan soldier held on suspicion of killing a NATO soldier from Slovakia escaped from prison and walked off a heavily guarded military base with the help of a guard, officials said Monday. The escape will raise new questions about the capacity and professionalism of the Afghan army as the remaining 100,000 foreign troops in the country prepare to leave next year.

#4: In a separate operation by the Pakistan Air Force, jets pounded several militant hideouts in the early hours of Sunday, killing at least 17 insurgents, security officials said. These areas are known as strongholds of the militants from where they stage deadly attacks in Kohat and Peshawar," one official in Kohat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. At least seven hideouts had been destroyed and 13 people wounded, two other security officials in the area said.

Posted by whisker at 4:14 AM

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