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


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

War News for Tuesday, May 06, 2014

The DoD is reporting the death of a soldier supporting OEF. Pfc. Daniela Rojas died from a non-combat related illness in Homburg, Germany on Saturday, May 3rd.


Two Italians arrested Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: At least two policemen were killed and four others injured when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's western Herat  Province. Local police chief Shir Agha Alokozay said the incident occurred early on May 6 in Herat's Obe district. 

#2: Four Afghan Border Police men were killed and four injured late Monday in an attack in Ghoryan district of the province, 640 km west of Afghan capital Kabul.

#3: Gunmen attacked three container trucks carrying NATO supplies en route to Afghanistan in Pakistan's troubled northwest on Monday, killing two people, officials said. The trucks came under fire in the Wazir Dhand area of Khyber, one of seven districts that make up Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, as they were on their way to Afghanistan.

#4: update - Militants attacked a police checkpoint in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing five policemen and two civilians during a two-hour-long shootout with security forces, officials said. The brazen assault took place in Gorzaiwan district near Maimana - the capital city of Faryab province - early in the morning, Mohammad Nahim deputy provincial police chief told AFP. “Five police and two civilians were killed in the attack,” he said.

#5: At least two people were killed and one was injured Tuesday in a blast in Pakistan's North Waziristan region, a media report said.  An improvised explosive device or a home-made bomb was planted in the Miramshah market which later exploded, Dawn online reported.

#6: The ministry of interior in a statement said at least two children were victimized by landmine planted by the insurgents in southern province of Kandahar on Tuesday. The incident took place in Maruf district of the province, where the mine had been freshly planted in an area in Dangar area of Maruf district, said the statement adding two children were killed when they hit the mine.


DoD: Pfc. Daniela Rojas

0 comments: