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, November 18, 2013

War News for Monday, November 18, 2013


Reported security incidents
#1: A roadside bomb killed two children in southern Afghanistan on Monday. In Monday's explosion, the two children died when their family's vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Rasoolyar told The Associated Press. The family was travelling to the Zabul provincial capital of Qalat for shopping. The father was wounded along with a third child, Rasoolyar said.

#2: update  six bodies found the day before in the restive region where identified as policemen and not laborers, as was initially reported. Deputy governor of southern Zabul province, Mohammed Jan Rasoolyar, said the confusion arose because the bodies found in neighboring Kandahar province were in civilian clothes. The policemen had disappeared several days earlier from Zabul.

#3: Also Monday, police in Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban — stopped a tractor hauling improvised explosive devises, said Javid Faisal, the provincial governor's spokesman. A firefight erupted as the police tried to stop the vehicle near the border with Pakistan, he said. The shooting ignited the devises, killing the driver and a second person on the tractor.

#4: At least 10 Taliban militants were killed during joint military operations by Afghan and coalition security forces in various provinces of Afghanistan, the interior ministry of Afghanistan announced Monday. Interior ministry officials also added that three militants were also arrested during the operations which were conducted in the past 24 hours. The statement further added, “The operations were conducted in Laghman, Parwan, Kandahar, Zabul, Maidan Wardak, Helmand and Nimroz provinces

#5: At least two Afghan national police officers were killed following a roadside improvised explosive (IED) explosion in capital Kabul on Sunday. According to reports, the incident took place in Paghman area at western part of Kabul city.

Posted by whisker at 3:43 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)