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


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

War News for Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Spc.Vilmar Galarza Hernandez died from an IED blast in in Zharay, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Saturday, May 26th.


Afghan insurgents target safest province Bamiyan


Reported security incidents

#1: NATO officials said two coalition members were killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan Monday. The coalition said it is investigating the cause of the crash. Initial reports said there was no enemy activity in the area. Earlier, another coalition aircraft also crashed in eastern Afghanistan. There were no fatalities in that crash.

#2: Two separate US drone attacks killed at least nine 'terrorists' near Miranshah on Monday, security officials said. The first attack, in the early hours of the morning, targeted a militant compound in Hassokhel town, 25 kilometres east of Miranshah, killing at least five terrorists. The second attack targeted a terrorist vehicle in Dattakhel district, killing four terrorists, a security official told AFP.

#3: Afghan army and police, backed by NATO-led coalition troops, have eliminated 16 Taliban insurgents and detained 23 others during military operations within the last 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday morning. "The joint forces launched 10 cleanup operations in Kabul, Helmand, Kandahar, Sari Pul, Baghlan, Logar, Wardak, Paktia and Farah provinces, killing 16 armed Taliban insurgents and detaining 23 others," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates to media.

#4: Four Afghan policemen were killed and one other injured Monday when their patrol hit a roadside bomb in northern province of Baghlan, a provincial source said. "A unit of Afghan Local Police (ALP) was on routine patrol in Alawudin-e-Mangalah area of Baghlan-e-Markazi district at around 5 p.m. local time but a bomb was detonated through a remote-control device when their patrolling van was passing the area," a security source told Xinhua anonymously.


#5: Three Taliban would- be suicide bombers were killed and two others sustained injuries as their explosive device went off prematurely in Nangarhar province 120 km east of capital Kabul on Tuesday, a local official said. "Five Taliban militants equipped with suicide vests and driving a car from Momandara district towards provincial capital Jalalabad to conduct mass attack but their explosive devices exploded prematurely killing three on the spot and badly injuring two others," the governor of Momandara district Noor Agha Kamran told Xinhua.

#6: According to local authorities in eastern Ghazni province at least 3 people were injured following missile attack in this province early Tuesday morning. The officials further added at least two missiles were fired by militants which hit near a mosque and Plan-3 areas of eastern Ghazni city.


DoD: Spc.Vilmar Galarza Hernandez

Posted by whisker at 3:59 AM

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

check this out folks

http://www.marcodilauro.com/

Photographer Marco di Lauro said he nearly “fell off his chair” when he saw the image being used, and said he was “astonished” at the failure of the corporation to check their sources.
The picture, which was actually taken on March 27, 2003, shows a young Iraqi child jumping over dozens of white body bags containing skeletons found in a desert south of Baghdad.
It was posted on the BBC news website today under the heading “Syria massacre in Houla condemned as outrage grows”.
The caption states the photograph was provided by an activist and cannot be independently verified, but says it is “believed to show the bodies of children in Houla awaiting burial”.
A BBC spokesman said the image has now been taken down.

May 29, 2012 at 11:01 PM

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