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, September 8, 2014

War News for Monday, September 8, 2014


Pakistani, Indian Troops In Rescue Effort After Deadly Kashmir Floods

Afghan election on brink of collapse as Abdullah-Ghani talks fail


Reported security incidents

#1: An Afghan official says a Taliban suicide bomber has killed a district police chief and his two guards in southern Kandahar province. Samim Khpolwak, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar, says the attack took place on Sunday evening at the police headquarters in Arghistan district. Khpolwak says the police chief, Abdul Manaf, and two policemen who served as his bodyguards died in the explosion while six other policemen were wounded.
 
#2: In the latest episode of cross-border skirmishes, two missiles fired from the Afghan side of the border injured a boy in Bajaur agency, political administration officials in the area confirmed. Officials said missiles hit Lagharrai village in Bajaur agency during the early hours of Sunday morning, as a result 10-year-old Yaseen sustained serious injuries.
 
A mother and her child were killed following cross-border shelling from the other side of Durand Line in Kunar province. According to local government officials, at least six others were also injured following the shelling.
 
#3: The incident took place in the Ahmedwal area of Noshki in Balochistan where the security forces traded fire with militants after intercepting the explosives-filled vehicle coming from Afghanistan.In cross fire, three militants were killed and the explosive-laden vehicle was destroyed. Three security personnel were also injured in the firing and they were shifted to hospital for treatment.
 
#4: Gunmen killed three people including a senior army officer in an attack on a Sufi shrine in central Pakistan, officials said on Monday, in the latest deadly sectarian violence to hit the country. The incident happened in the town of Sargodha, 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of the capital Islamabad, late Saturday but was not immediately reported.
 
#5: Militants have blown up a 24-inch gas pipeline in Balochistan's resource-rich Dera Bugti district on Monday, an official said. A security official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn that militants had planted explosive materials close to the gas pipeline in Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district.
 
#6: Afghan security forces killed at least 35 Taliban members and wounded six others in nationwide military operations, said the country's interior ministry on Monday.
 
The Afghan army has killed 18 Taliban militants within the last 24 hours, the country's Defense Ministry said Monday morning. "Up to 18 militants had been killed and five others injured during Afghan army operations in seven out of 34 provinces within the last 24 hours,"the ministry said in a statement. The statement also confirmed that six army personnel were killed in roadside bomb attacks and enemy forces'direct fire over the same period across the country.
 
#7: Gunmen kidnapped two Pakistani engineers in Afghanistan’s Jawzjan province on Sunday, officials said.
 
#8: Four Afghan soldiers were killed as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Badakhshan province with Faizabad as its capital 315 km northeast of Kabul on Sunday, a local official said. "A mine planted by militants on a road in Wardoj district struck a vehicle of national army today morning, killing four soldiers on the spot and injuring two others," district governor Daulat Mohammad Khawar told reporters.
 
#9: At least 3 militants were killed following a drone strike by NATO-led coalition security forces in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan. Local security officials said the airstrike was carried out on Monday morning in Marwara district.

1 comments:

Cervantes said...

As usual, note the discrepancy between the Ministry of Defense press release and the Ministry of Interior. MoD is credible; MoI is not.