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


Thursday, August 2, 2012

War News for Thursday, August 02, 2012

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 1st.
 
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 1st.
 
NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 1st.
 
NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, August 2nd.


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan forces killed five insurgents who were planning to attack Kabul in an early morning gunbattle Thursday just outside of the capital, officials said. Intelligence agents discovered that the insurgents were massing weapons at a compound east of the city and ambushed the men when they returned to the site around 1 a.m. to prepare for the attack, said intelligence agency spokesman Latifullah Mashal. A gunbattle broke out and some of the insurgents blew themselves up with explosives, while others grabbed guns and fought back against the intelligence agents. The gunbattle lasted until a few hours after dawn, when the last insurgents were killed, Mashal said.

#2: Five civilians were killed by militants in Logar province 60 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul, a provincial government spokesman said Thursday. "A total of 10 civilians were kidnapped by militants two weeks ago in Logar but the bullet-riddle bodies of five were found in Shash-Qala area of Charkh district late on Wednesday," spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish told Xinhua. The militants kidnapped them in charges of working for government and the NATO-led forces, he said.

#3: According to local authorities in eastern Logar province of Afghanistan, at least five people including two Afghan national police officers were killed following an explosion in this province. The officials further added the incident took place on Wednesday evening during the fast breaking period at Pul-e-Alam district, killing two Afghan police officers and three Afghan civilians. Provincial governor spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish confirming the report said the incident took place after explosives planted near a water pipeline went off on Wednesday evening. Mr. Darwish further added at least two Afghan police officers were injured along with two other civilians following the blast.











Posted by whisker at 3:56 AM

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