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, September 5, 2013

War News for Thursday, September 05, 2013


Tirah Valley cleared of terrorists: army


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan authorities say police killed two militants in an early morning shootout at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul.

#2: Two security personals were martyred while four sustained injuries in a remote controlled bomb in Dera Bugti area in Jaffarabad. According to reports, security forces vehicle was on routine patrolling in Jaffarabad area of Dera Bugti when a remote controlled device planted on the road side exploded. As a result of blast two security personals were killed instantly while four sustained injuries.

#3: Two powerful explosions went off outside the SP investigations office Dera Ismail Khan Thursday morning, no loss of life was reported.

#4: A person has been killed in a landmine blast in Jaffarabad district. Levies sources said on Thursday that unknown men planted a landmine roadside in RD-298 area of Jaffarabad district that exploded when foot of a passerby hit it.

#5: At around midnight, militants raided a police checkpoint in Shindand district of western Herat province, killing four policemen, a provincial source told Xinhua but declined to be named. He said the attack resulted in fierce exchange of fire between police personnel and the militants, in which several militants were killed or injured in the province, 640 km west of national capital Kabul.

#6: In addition, eight civilians, including six women, were wounded when a Taliban mortar round hit a house near an army base in Maiwand district of Kandahar province, 450 km south of Kabul, the provincial government confirmed in a statement.

#7: Separately, six militants were killed during a search operation in the country's northern province of Kunduz early Thursday morning. "The joint operation was conducted by army and police in Dasht- i-Archi district. A Taliban local leader named Qari Maliak was among the killed in the raid which took place in Timoryan area of the district," deputy provincial police chief Ebadullah Talwar told Xinhua, adding no security force member was hurt in the raid.

Posted by whisker at 4:54 AM

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