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, September 16, 2013

War News for Monday, September 16, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of Staff Sgt. Robert E. Thomas Jr. who died at the Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas on Friday, September 13th. He was hurt from a a non-combat related incident in Maiwand, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 21st.


War News for Monday, September 01, 2013
#1: The most senior female police officer in Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province died on Monday after she was shot by unknown assassins in an attack following the recent killing of her predecessor. Both women were gunned down on the streets of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, by unknown assassins in murders that highlighted the grave threat to women who take on public roles in Afghanistan.

#2: At least 20 NATO oil tankers were destroyed in an attack by militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. According to the media, the attack took place late Sunday night when the containers, carrying oil and other products for NATO forces in Afghanistan, were parked near a roadside restaurant in the Hub district of Balochistan, Xinhua reported. Around 10-15 militants riding on motorcycles reached the site and started firing rockets at the tankers, which sparked a huge blaze in six containers that later spread to all the other vehicles parked nearby

#3: A roadside bomb killed a Pakistani general and another officer yesterday near the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani army said, rare high-ranking casualties in Pakistan’s war against militants. Major General Sanaullah Khan, along with a lieutenant colonel and another soldier, were killed in the Upper Dir district after visiting an outpost near the border, the army said. 

#4: At least 15 people were killed and ten others were wounded in clashes in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. At least 15 people, including one police officers, have been killed and ten others, including four army personnel, have been wounded in clashes in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. "The military operations were conducted last night in the capital Maidan Shahr, as well as in the four districts of Jaghatu, Sayed Abad, Dai Mirdad and Chak," Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesperson for the governor of Wardak province, told the Anadolu Agency.

#5: Six government armed oppositions and one border guard were killed in a clash between security forces and armed Taliban in eastern province of Nangarhar, an official said Monday. A police officer, Col. Massum Khan Hashemi told Wakht News Agency the conflict erupted in Pachiragam district, where a security checkpoint known as Pachir was attacked by militants.

#6: Afghan police backed by the national army have killed over two dozen Taliban fighters over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday.

#7: Cross-border shelling by Pakistani military continues in eastern Afghanistan, with the latest report of over 40 missiles fired in eastern Kunar province. Mr. Malik further added that the shelling did not incur any casualties to local residents, however, damages to houses and properties of local residents were reported.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Robert E. Thomas Jr.

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