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


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

War News for Wednesday, August 14, 2013


Heavy rain in Lahore: 8 killed, 6 injured


Reported security incidents
#1: An unknown gang has kidnapped a female Afghan member of parliament, officials said Wednesday, in the latest example of prominent women being targeted in the country. Fariba Ahmadi Kakar and her three children were taken at gunpoint on Saturday in the central province of Ghazni on the main highway from Kandahar city to Kabul.

#2: At least three anti-government fighters were killed and six others wounded during a police clearance operation in Ghorak district of southern Kandahar province, an office said Wednesday.

#3: One policeman was killed and a dozen people were wounded Wednesday when a bomb went off in northern Afghan province of Takhar, a provincial government spokesman said. "The militants planted a bomb inside a restaurant in Khowaja Bahawoddin district. It was detonated at around midday. As a result one Afghan Local Police (ALP) cop was killed and 12 people were injured," spokesman Sayed Suleiman Muradi told Xinhua.

#4: Two bodyguards of a lawmaker were killed and three others wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was detonated in northern Baghlan province, 160 km north of Kabul, early Wednesday morning, a provincial police spokesman said. "The convoy of the Lower House of parliament Ahmad Shah Ramadan was running along the main road towards Kabul. An IED was detonated in Doshi area, killing two bodyguards and injuring three others," spokesman Jawid Basharat told Xinhua. However, Ramadan, the representative of northern Balkh province, was not in the motorcade as he was traveling by plane, he noted.

#5: On Tuesday night, one policeman and a civilian were killed and two people were wounded when a sedan touched off an IED in Almar district of northern Faryab province, 425 km northwest of Kabul, a provincial official told Xinhua anonymously.

Posted by whisker at 4:15 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)