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, November 22, 2014

War News for Saturday, November 22, 2014


US 'to expand' 2015 Afghanistan combat role


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan official says that one soldier and eight insurgents have been killed in an attack on an army base in the country's volatile east. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the assault Saturday in Afghanistan's remote Nuristan province along the country's mountainous border with Pakistan lasted almost three hours. He says a large number of insurgents tried to overrun the base, but were turned back.

#2: Meanwhile in eastern Nangarhar province, police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal said a car bomb killed one civilian and wounded two in Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

#3: Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry "were conducting a security patrol when they were engaged by a lone gunman" on Saturday (15th) in Kabul, Maj. Stephen  Bomar said. "The soldiers subsequently returned fire, killing the gunman." One soldier was seriously injured and two sustained non-life-threatening injuries, he said, adding that "It is U.S. military policy not to release the names of the wounded."

#4: Four militants were killed and five others including a security person sustained injuries as clash flared up in Baghlan province with Pul-e-Khumri as its capital 160 km north of Kabul Friday night, a local official said Saturday. "A group of armed Taliban rebels raided a security checkpoint in Abqul area of Baghlan-e-Markazai district late last night, triggering a gun battle which lasted for a while leaving four militants dead," district governor Gohar Khan Babri told reporters. Five more persons including four militants and a security man sustained injuries in the firefight, he added.

#5: At least 19 Taliban militants were killed and 4 others were injured in military operations conducted by Afghan national security forces in the past 24 hours.

#6: A police official was killed and two others were injured in a magnetic bomb blast in eastern Nangarhar province this morning.

#7: A Taliban bomber blew up himself with own explosives while he was trying to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) in Herat province.

#8: At least five Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were martyred following roadside bomb explosion, defense officials said Saturday. Gen. Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the Afghan soldiers were martyred in the past 48 hours.

Posted by whisker at 4:00 AM

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