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


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

War News for Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers as according to the ISAF. They were killed in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, December 27th.


Georgia to send one more battalion to Afghanistan to join ISAF

Mullah Omar no more FBI’s most wanted

NATO routes restorable only on surcharge: Mukhtar

How to Save Iraq From Civil War

5 killed in fresh clash between Iran's security forces, Kurdish PJAK militants: report

Afghan refugees repatriation strategy big mistake: UNHCR


Reported security incidents
#1: A district council chief and his son were shot dead late Tuesday by suspected militants in the southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, a local official said on Wednesday. "Unknown armed men opened indiscriminate fire on the vehicle of Abdul Baqi, the district council chief of Musa Qala District, late Tuesday killing Baqi and his son on the spot," a spokesman for provincial government Daud Ahmadi told Xinhua on Wednesday morning. He said Baqi was driving from district headquarters to home when the incident occurred in which his grandson was also seriously injured in the province with Lashkar Gah as its capital, some 555 km south of capital city of Kabul.

#2: Afghanistan Ministry of Defense officials following a press release on Wednesday said, at least two militants were killed and 10 others were arrested following a military operation in eastern Ghazni province. The source further added, the militants were killed and detained in Gilan district of eastern Ghazni province in Afghan National Army operation.

#3: Unknown gunmen assassinated chief of the development council for Nawzad district of southern Helmand province. According to local officials, Abdul Baqi chief of the Nawzad development was killed along with his son and grandson on Tuesday evening while he was on his way to his home. Provincial governor media office officials said, Abdul Baqi and his son was killed on the spot while his grandson died of his wounds in Shorabak military hospital.

DoD: Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Altmann

4 comments:

Dancewater said...

Imagine that, Mullah Omar is no longer a terrorist!

Sometimes I think I am living in a bad fiction novel.....

Dancewater said...

"Since Iraq’s 2010 election, we have witnessed the subordination of the state to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s Dawa party, the erosion of judicial independence, the intimidation of opponents and the dismantling of independent institutions intended to promote clean elections and combat corruption."

Or, in other words, it is becoming like the USA.... minus the "intimidation of opponents". Maliki has to figure out a way to have an opposition party that will have the same agenda as him, and participate in the dog and pony show without a lot of violence.... like the USA.

Dancewater said...

this is pretty funny, coming from Allawi (former CIA agent - possibly current CIA agent):

"We needed the United States to protect the political process, to prevent violations of the Constitution and to help develop democratic institutions."

I guess he missed that the US Supreme Court picked our President in 2000, and that our US Constitution has been violated so many times it is functionally useless. I guess he missed that our politicians are going on and on about voter fraud, when the real story is voter intimidation and disenfranchisement.

jsm said...

My name is Eric Holder, and I approves these comments.