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


Monday, October 21, 2013

War News for Monday, October 21, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of Sgt. Lyle D. Turnbull. He died at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, from a medical emergency on Thursday, October 18th. Apparently he was participating in the Army Ten Miler Shadow Run. He was was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.


Pakistan tells U.N. at least 400 civilians killed by drone strikes


Reported security incidents
#1: A bomb stuck onto a car killed a civilian in downtown Kabul, Afghan police said. Deputy Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Dunish said Monday's explosion was caused by a magnetic bomb attached to a car as it drove through Kabul.

#2: Former Labour MP Chris Carter has narrowly escaped death or serious injury after a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a military convoy outside his Afghanistan home. Mr Carter, who now works for the United Nations Development Programme, was metres from a car bomb blast that killed two civilians outside the Green Village compound in Kabul on Saturday morning (NZ time).

#3: A bomb exploded on a train in the south-western province of Balochistan, killing seven passengers and injuring more than 20 people, police officer Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry said.

#4: Overnight, four policemen were killed by gunmen on motorbikes at a security checkpoint in the north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials said. The incident in the provincial capital Peshawar triggered protests by angry relatives of police.

#5: Four Taliban fighters including their commander were killed as Afghan security forces stormed their hideout in eastern Kunar province on Monday, a local official said. "Acting upon intelligence report, the security forces raided Taliban hideout in Kalajal village of Manogai district Monday morning killing four rebels including their commander Mullah Dawran," district governor Hajji Abdul Marjan told Xinhua.

#6: Two Afghan policemen were killed and four others wounded Monday in roadside bombing in the northern province of Baghlan, sources said. "Two policemen were killed and four cops were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Karu area of Dushi district at around midday," the district police chief Muhibullah Khan told Xinhua.

#7: Earlier in the day, two Taliban militants were killed and three others injured when the IED they were making went off in Nijrab district in eastern Kapisa province, 65 km north of Kabul.

#8: According to local authorities in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, at least two Afghan border protection police forces were killed following an attack by Pakistani Taliban militants. provincial security chief, Gen. Abdul Razaq confirming the report said the incident took place on Monday morning around 6am local time, after a group of Taliban militants attacked the security check post of the border protection police forces. Gen. Razaq further added that the incident took place in Spin Boldak area, leaving two border protection police forces dead and another police officer injured.

#9: At least 36 Taliban militants were killed in joint Afghan and NATO forces operations across the country, according to the interior ministry of Afghanistan. The source further added that the operations were conducted in Helmand, Paktiya, Maidan Wardak, Kandahar, Baghlan and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

#10: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, at least 9 Taliban militants were killed during NATO airstrike in this province.

DoD: Sgt. Lyle D. Turnbull

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