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, September 4, 2013

War News for Wednesday, September 04, 2013


U.S. documents detail al-Qaeda’s efforts to fight back against drones


Reported security incidents
#1: Twenty-seven Taliban militants were killed during a series of cleanup operations in different Afghan provinces since Tuesday morning, said the country’s Interior Ministry on Wednesday. "In the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police , army, National Security Directorate and the NATO-led troops carried out several cleanup operations, killing 27 armed Taliban insurgents,” the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. They also injured 10 militants and arrested seven others during the raids, which were launched in Nuristan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Kandahar, Wardak and Helmand provinces.

 #2: Earlier Wednesday morning, two Afghan army soldiers were wounded and one army van was damaged in an IED attack in Pul-e- Behsoud area of the eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial police spokesman Colonel Hazrat Husain Mashriqiwal told Xinhua.

#3: Three accused were killed and one Ranger martyred in an encounter with the criminals at Baghdadi in Lyari Town on Wednesday here, Local TV reported. Rangers intelligence on a tip-off that some hardened criminals were hiding in Baghdadi area of Lyari Town swiftly went into action and cordoned off the area and asked the accused to surrender, but they went on trading gunfire with the Rangers that left one Ranger martyred and three accused killed, said the spokesman of Rangers.

#4: A provincial judge was killed Tuesday in a drive-by shooting in western Afghanistan's Herat province, police said. "Sayed Ahmad Khaliqi was killed near his residence by two gunmen riding a motorcycle. The incident happened in Baba Hajji neighborhood of the provincial capital Herat city, 640 km west of national capital Kabul, at around midday," head of provincial criminal investigation department Lieutenant Colonel Israheel Khan told Xinhua.

Posted by whisker at 3:55 AM

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