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, July 4, 2013

War News for Thursday, July 04, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack  in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Thursday, July 4th.


Study: Drones Killed 10 Times More Civilians Than Manned Aircrafts In Afghanistan

Pakistan denounces latest Drone attack



Reported security incidents
#1: GUNMEN have shot dead one of the most high-profile female police officers in Afghanistan, underlining the threat to women who take on public roles in the country. Lieutenant Islam Bibi was a well-known face of female advancement but admitted to receiving regular death threats from people who disapproved of her career - including from her own brother. "She was shot by unknown assailants when she was being driven to work by her son in the morning," Helmand provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP.

#2: Roadside bombs killed four young girls and two schoolboys in Afghanistan on Thursday. The girls, aged 10 to 12 years, had been sent by their families to a river to fetch some water for a wedding that was being held in a home on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, Helmand governor's spokesman Ummar Zawaq said. The bomb went off alongside a footpath through a field the girls had taken to make their way back home, Zawaq said. And in the eastern province of Paktika, two schoolboys were killed on their way walking home from classes in the afternoon when they triggered a roadside bomb, the governor's office said in a statement.

#3: In other violence Thursday, 11 Taliban militants were killed in two different operations in the province of Lowgar, just south of Kabul, and seven others were wounded, the Ministry of Defense said. One Afghan soldier was also killed.

 
#4: At least four soldiers were killed and three others injured today in a suicide attack on a security check-post in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region. A suicide bomber struck his explosive-laden vehicle into a security check-post in Watta Khel, killing four and injuring three other officials, according to sources.

 
#5: Militants attacked a Nato tanker and killed its driver and injured two others in Balochistan's restive Khuzdar district on Thursday. Police sources said four militants on two motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire at the tanker in Wadh tehsil of Khuzdar district. The militants set the tanker on fire before fleeing the scene.

#6: Security forces killed two militants in a clash that took place in Matni area of Peshawar, FP News desk reported Peshawar. According to sources, police and other law enforcement agencies kicked off a search operation in Matni and raided a house following a tip off regarding the presence of militants. During the operation, terrorists opened fire on the security personnel, killing one cop and injuring another.

#7: At least three employees of an international non-governmental organization was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in western Herat province of Afghanistan. According to local authorities the hostages belongs to Norwegian Refugee Council and were abducted by unknown gunmen from Guzara district in Snogerd area.

 
DoD: Spc. Hilda I. Clayton
 

News: UK. Civ. Contractor: Mark Duffus

News: US. Civ. Contractor: Kurt Muncy

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