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 28, 2013

War News for Wednesday, August 28, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: A provincial spokesman says four Afghan civilians have been killed and 15 wounded in a suicide car bomb attack targeting a coalition convoy in southern Afghanistan. Spokesman Omer Zwak of southern Helmand province says the attack happened in the provincial capital city of Laskar-Gah.

#2: At least 36 Taliban gunmen were killed and eleven others arrested by Afghanistan's Security Forces and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in the past twenty-four hours in various provinces in Afghanistan. The Afghani Ministry of Interior, in a statement issued today, stated that its forces and the ISAF carried out numerous joint (clean-up) operations in Baghlan, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Qandahar, Helmand and Logar provinces in the past twenty-four hours, killing thirty-six , wounding ten and arresting eleven armed Taliban militants.

#3: Meanwhile Afghan militants have torched 40 vehicles including oil tankers and transport vehicles,and killed six drivers in Balaboluk District of Farah Province. The spokesman for governor of Farah Province, Abdorraman Zhwandi, said that a rocket fired from an unknown direction landed among oil tankers and other transport vehicles in the Farah-e Rod area in Balaboluk District late Tuesday and one tanker caught fire as a result. The fire spread to other vehicles quickly and 40 big transport vehicles and transport vehicles were burnt. Six drivers were killed and 10 others injured as a result," Zhwandi told the Afghan Islamic Press.

#4: The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants on Tuesday attacked security forces in South Waziristan, killing two personnel and injuring nine, a security official told The Express Tribune. The militants launched an offensive on the forces’ compound near Sararugh Bazaar at about 1am. In retaliation The security forces killed four militants, including three suicide bombers. However, the fourth bomber blew himself up. The fight lasted four hours. The militants used suicide bombers and light and heavy weapons, another security official said.

#5: A coalition press office said in a statement Wednesday that, four militants were killed and three others detained in Kabul. The incident took place in Sarubi district of the province, where the statement said the operation targeted the insurgent network in Uzbeen valley, specifically the Qali Kalan, Siri Kala, and Walud Ozbin villages in order to preserve security around the Afghan National Army Outpost Rocco.

#6: In a related development which happened in Taliban's birthplace of the neighboring Kandahar province, a man in uniform opened fire on the Public Protection Police Force (PPPF) and injured 15 personnel on Wednesday, a local official Atash said. "A man dressed in the uniform of the PPPF entered the compound of the body in Daman district at around 09:00 a.m. local time today and opened indiscriminate fire injuring 15 persons," Atash told Xinhua.
 
#7: Officials in the ministry of mines of Afghanistan on Wednesday confirmed that militants launched a rocket attack on the ministry compound late Tuesday night. A spokesman for the ministry of mines of Afghanistan, Mohammad Rafi Sediqi said the rocket hit the working office of the mines minister, Wahidullah Shahrani, injuring one person.

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