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, April 5, 2014

War News for Saturday, April 05, 2014


Reported security incidents
#1: Four voters were wounded in an explosion at a polling station in the southeastern province of Logar. "The blast took place close to a polling station which is a school building and wounded four voters, one critically," Abdul Hameed, governor of the province's Mohammad Agha district, told Reuters.

#2: Three Pakistani Rangers were killed and 36 others were injured, 13 critically, Saturday when their speeding truck overturned in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

#3: At least six mortar shells were fired from the Afghanistan side of the Pak-Afghan border on Saturday that landed in Pakistan’s bordering areas in North and South Waziristan Agency (NWA), but no loss of life reported. Sources said that four mortar shells fired from Afghanistan landed at Bangidar in Tehsil Ghulam Khan of North Waziristan, while two mortar shells were also fired into South Waziristan from Afghanistan. Fortunately, no loss of life reported in both the incidents.

#4: At least 24 Taliban militants were killed and 4 others were injured during military operations by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.

#5: A suicide bomber was arrested by Afghan police forces before he manage to enter a polling station in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.

#6: Heavy clashes were reported among the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban militants in eastern Paktika province of Afghanistan on Friday. Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials said the incident took place around 12:40 pm local time in Wana district.

Posted by whisker at 5:39 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)