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


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

War News for Tuesday, June 19, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, June 18th.


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan officials say a mine laid in a road has killed eight civilians in the country's south, including women and children. The governor's office in Helmand province says the eight were driving Monday in Musa Qala district when their car hit the explosives.

#2: Seven attackers have been killed after storming a base of the Nato coalition in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan. The attackers breached the outer security of the base in Shah Wali Kot district, but were then killed by guards at the compound. Initial reports suggested that at least one foreign worker was killed and two other foreigners were wounded, but this was not confirmed.

#3: Afghan authorities say militants have attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, killing three policemen and wounding six others. Kandahar province spokesman Javid Faisal says militants attacked the checkpoint in Kandahar city around 6 a.m. Tuesday. A gunbattle between the police and insurgents lasted for an hour.

#4: Earlier Tuesday, seven Taliban insurgents were killed when they launched an attack on a NATO military camp in neighboring Shah Wali Kot district, police chief of the district Padshah Khan told Xinhua. At least 10 soldiers with the NATO-led coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were injured in the attack at around 3:30 local time, he said. Meanwhile, the ISAF press office in Kandahar city confirmed that one of the coalition's camp was attacked Tuesday morning but did not provide details.

#5: A total of 27 Taliban insurgents have been killed and seven others detained in joint cleanup operations carried out by Afghan forces and NATO-led coalition troops in different provinces within the past 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday morning. "Afghan police, army and NATO-led coalition troops launched 10 cleanup operations in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunduz, Faryab, Badakhshan, Zabul, Paktika and Farah provinces, killing 27 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining seven other suspects over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

Posted by whisker at 3:30 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)