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 17, 2011

War News for Monday, October 17, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from a small arms fire attack/gunshot wound in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Saturday, October 15th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, October 14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, October 15th. News reports that an Estonian soldier died in a firefight in Helmand province. Three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.


Afghan-Pakistan cross-border fire frustrates troops

Taliban cracks Afghanistan's fortress

Gurkha who beheaded Taliban soldier in Afghanistan battle cleared to return to duty

Hundreds of US troops seal NWA border

NATO chopper violates Pak air space


Reported security incidents

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan police shot dead three suicide bombers attempting to target mayoral offices in the east of the country on Sunday, but a car bomb set up for the attack blew up, killing one worker, an official said. "At around noon, three suicide attackers with an explosives-packed vehicle tried to enter the municipality building in Gardez and target the city hall, but they were stopped and killed by the police," Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for Paktia provincial governor, told AFP. He said the attackers left their bomb-rigged vehicle, which detonated before foreign troops were able to arrive to defuse it, killing one worker.

#2: A suicide bomber targeted a provincial head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency today, wounding the spy and killing a child in the increasingly volatile north of the country. The bomber detonated next to a car carrying the National Directorate of Security (NDS) official at 8:20am (3:50 GMT) in Maymanah in Faryab province, Lal Mohammad, police spokesman for the northern region, told AFP. "The chief of NDS was going to his office when the attacker, a person wearing a suicide vest, detonated near his car. "One child is killed and six other people, including the provincial chief of NDS, are injured," said Mohammad. Mohammad had said initially that a "number of civilians" were killed. Faryab police chief Sayed Ahmad Sameh confirmed the NDS official was the target.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Robert B. Cowdrey

DoD: Spc. Jeremiah T. Sancho

EST/MoD: Corporal Agris Hutrof

Posted by whisker at 3:34 AM

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