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


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

War News for Wednesday, January 11, 2011

Spaniard Named to Senior NATO Post in Afghanistan

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, January 11. Jan. 10th.


Reported security incidents
#1: 'A suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Kandahar police headquarters while General Abdul Razzaq was still there,' Rahmatullah Atrafi, the provincial deputy police chief, told dpa. This is the second time General Razzaq has been targeted since he became the police chief last year after a suicide bomber killed his predecessor General Khan Mohammad Mujahid. 'Only the bomber was killed. No one was injured in the attack,' Atrafi said of Wednesday's bombing. However, according to an official at Kandahar Hospital, one Afghan policeman injured in the attack was taken to hospital.

#2: The U.S. carried out its first drone strike into Pakistan since errant November airstrikes by U.S. forces killed two dozen Pakistani troops along the Afghan border. The latest missile attack killed four militants, three of them Arabs, according to Pakistani intelligence officials. The drone strike took place Tuesday near Miran Shah in North Waziristan, an al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold that has been pounded by the U.S. since the drone program began in earnest in 2009.

#3: A bomb exploded in a market in the town of Landi Kotal in the northwestern Khyber tribal region, wounding six people, local security officials said.

#4: Afghan police in conjunction with national army and the NATO-led troops have killed 10 Taliban insurgents and captured 40 others over the past 24 hours, a statement of Interior Ministry released here Wednesday said.

#5: According to local authorities in eastern Afghanistan, at least 15 people were killed and injured following a missile attack on Afghan National Army base at Mandakol in eastern Kunar province. The officials further added, the incident took place around 1:00 pm local time on Tuesday. Provincial public health administration chief Dr. Asadullah Fazli said, at least 14 injured individuals and 1 dead body have been taken to the provincial hospital. Dr. Fazli further added, the deceased person is a member of the Afghan national army. He also said, at least 2 Afghan civilians and 12 Afghan national army soldiers were among those injured during the incident.


DoD: Pfc. Dustin P. Napier

Posted by whisker at 3:04 AM

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