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


Friday, July 25, 2014

War News for Friday, July 25, 2014

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 24th.


Last Tornados to go to Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: SLOVAK soldiers in Afghanistan came under fire at the Kandahar Air Field base on the morning of July 24, but none of them suffered injuries.

#2: Taliban insurgents halted minibuses in western Afghanistan, identified 14 Shiite passengers and shot them dead by the side of the road overnight Friday, an official said.

#3: At least two policemen were shot dead by militants Friday in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. According to a police official, the militants attacked the policemen in the New Sariab area of Quetta, Dawn online reported.

#4: A bomb on Thursday killed at least two soldiers in North Waziristan, where the Army is carrying out a major offensive against Taliban militants, officials said. The incident occurred on Thursday evening near the border with Afghanistan just northwest of Miranshah, a statement from the military said. “Two soldiers embraced shahadat [martyrdom] Thursday evening in an improvised explosive device blast in the Ghulam Khan area,” the statement said, issued late Thursday.

#5: At least two people were killed in a roadside Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Kulachi tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan district, Police sources said the explosion on Kulachi-Loni road left two local traders dead. The victims were passing through the area when their motorcycle struck an IED, police sources said, adding that explosives were planted to target law enforcement personnel.

#6: a Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was shot dead in FR Jandola Bazaar. In a separate incident at FR Jandola Bazaar near the South Waziristan tribal agency, an FC soldier was shot dead by unidentified gunmen.

#7: According to BNA, Interior Minister with releasing a declaration said, the terrorist incident occurred at 9:30 this morning that a quantity of explosive materials planted in a motorcycle in Khwaja Ghor district, Takhar province. The terrorist tragedy, in the Ramadan month, martyred six of our compatriots and wounded 28 others.

Posted by whisker at 5:27 AM

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