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, April 27, 2013

War News for Saturday, April 27, 2013


Taliban announce start of spring offensive, signaling plans for more attacks

Afghan troops hold their ground at high cost

NATO admits Afghan children killed in Kapisa

Hailstorm damage 50 NATO helicopters in southern Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Some unknown miscreants tore down 30-inch diameter gas pipeline running from Sui to Punjab near here, severing supplies to several areas of the province, FP News desk reported Saturday morning. Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNPL) said that gas supply to CNG stations in many cities/towns including Lahore, Sahiwal, Sheikhupura, Multan, Gojranawala and Gujrat of the province of Punjab has been suspended due to the busted gas pipeline.

#2: Taliban kidnapped five workers of an international non-governmental organisation (INGO), including, a Pakistani national in western Herat province, police sources said on Friday. Abdul Hamid Hamidi, security chief of the western Herat province told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) that Taliban gunmen seized three employees of Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) in the limits of Kohsan district. He identified the kidnapped persons as one Pakistani engineer, an Afghan engineer and their driver.

#3: An explosion in Karachi, Pakistan, killed at least eight people and injured more than 20, Karachi authorities said late Friday. The target of the blast, according to Salim Abbasi, a Karachi police official, was a meeting the the Awami National Party, an anti-Taliban liberal political party. "It's unclear what caused the blast," said police spokesman Naeem Shah. Emergency personnel were on the scene of the explosion on Karachi's west side and an investigation was under way, he added.


DoD: Capt. Aaron R. Blanchard

DoD: 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess

Posted by whisker at 4:50 AM

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