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


Saturday, January 4, 2014

War News for Saturday, January 04, 2014

The military is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a suicide attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, January 4th.


Iraqi army shells Falluja to try to dislodge Qaeda, tribes

Al-Qaeda-linked force captures Fallujah amid rise in violence in Iraq

Iraqi tribesmen and police take a victory over al Qaeda in Anbar province


Reported security incidents
#1: Six Taliban suicide attackers launched an assault on a joint Afghan-Nato base in the east of Afghanistan on Saturday, killing one Nato soldier during a prolonged firefight, officials said. One attacker in an explosives-packed vehicle blew himself up at the entrance of the base in Nangarhar province, and five other insurgents were shot as they tried to storm the facility.

#2-3: Four Afghan policemen were killed in two separate bomb attacks on Saturday, authorities said.

#2: "The Andar district police chief commander of Afghan Local Police (ALP) named Shahin Khan was killed and his bodyguard was injured in a bomb attack in provincial capital Ghazni city," the provincial police chief Mohheudin Sarwari told Xinhua. The blast occurred after a sticky improvised explosive device ( IED) attached to the police vehicle set off at midday in Ghazni city, the capital of eastern Ghazni province, 125 km south of the national capital Kabul, the source noted.

#3: Earlier on Saturday, three police cops were killed in an IED attack in Bati Kot district of eastern Nangarhar province, 120 km east of Kabul.

#4: Earlier on Saturday, the country's Interior Ministry said that 11 Taliban insurgent members were killed, three wounded and eight others were arrested during military operations carried out by the Afghan army, police and intelligence agency since early Friday.

#5: A suicide attack was reported in eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, leaving an Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander critically injured. Local residents and eyetwitnesses in the area area saying that the blast took place in Ghazni city, after a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives. Mr. Ahmadi further added that the preliminary reports suggest the ALP commander was critically injured along with one of his bodyguard in the blast.

#6: At least three service members of the Afghan national police forces were killed following a roadside bomb explosion in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Local government officials in Nangarhar said, the incident took place early Saturday morning in Batikut district.

#7: At least four Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives were killed following a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan. Provincial governor spokesman, Baryalai Rawan said, the incident took place late Friday evening in Sabari district. Mr. Rawan further added that a district intelligence administrator was also among those killed following the explosion.

#8: At least two Taliban militants were killed and another one was injured following an explosion in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.

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