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, June 16, 2014

War News for Monday, June 16, 2014


Militants Claim Mass Execution of Iraqi Forces --  claim to have killed 1,700 soldiers in Tikrit


Reported security incidents
#1: Pakistani warplanes have resumed air strikes in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region, a day after the army announced the start of a major military operation to flush fighters out of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan. Security officials said that fighter jets bombed two government schools west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, early on Monday, killing at least 15 fighters who were sheltering in them.

#2: A roadside bomb planted by the Afghan Taliban killed 5 civilians from the same family in the southern Kandahar province on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

#3: In a separate incident, four soldiers have been killed and five injured in a road side blast in the town of Ghulam Khan in North Waziristan. Official sources told Al Jazeera the security convoy was targeted close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, adding that they cordoned off the area and launched a search operation for suspects.

#4: A powerful blast rocked Mazar-e-Sharif city, capital of northern Balkh province, 305 km north of Kabul on Monday, injuring at least five people, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said. "According to initial investigation, five people were injured in the blast and one of them was in critical condition,"Rahimi told the press at the site of the blast.

#5: The Afghan Defense Ministry on Monday morning said that its troops battled the insurgents in six provinces out of 34 within day, killing 67 and injuring 36 other militants.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Scott R. Studenmund

DoD: Staff Sgt. Jason A. McDonald

DoD: Spc. Justin R. Helton

DoD: Cpl. Justin R. Clouse

DoD: Pvt. 2nd Class Aaron S. Toppen

Posted by whisker at 4:07 AM

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