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, September 29, 2012

War News for Saturday, September 29, 2012


Nato resumes joint patrols with Afghans: Panetta

Afghan troops get a lesson in American cultural ignorance


Reported security incidents
#1: At least four people have been killed in a US airstrike carried out in Afghanistan’s western province of Heart,Press TV reports. The government officials said the four were killed on Saturday. The Western military alliance has not yet commented on the incident.
 
#2: Afghan authorities say a roadside bomb has killed two policemen in Herat province of western Afghanistan, just hours before a ceremony to hand a nearby police training academy over from NATO to Afghan control. Raouf Ahmedi, a spokesman for the Afghan police commander for the western region, says one of the policemen killed in Saturday's explosion was a teacher at the academy in Adraskan district. He says two other policemen were injured by the remote-controlled bomb that exploded as their vehicle passed.

#3: At least 14 militants were killed and several others injured in operation by security forces’ in different areas of the Upper Orakzai Agency, officials said on Saturday. According to the official sources, four hideouts of the terrorists were also destroyed in the crackdown. The forces are advancing in the area. Orakzai is the only tribal agency of the country which does not border Afghanistan.


#4: Two policemen were injured in a remote controlled blast that targeted a police van in a suburban area of Kohat, FP News desk reported Saturday. According to police, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a police van of Saddar police station in Shadi Khel area of Kohat when it was on a routine patrol. As a result of blast, two policemen were hurt while the vehicle was also damaged.

#5: The family of three was riding a motorcycle in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, and struck by a NATO tank after receiving a go-ahead signal from traffic police, police spokesman Farid Ahmad Farhang said. The 8-year-old was killed on the spot and his mother was wounded, but the father stayed unhurt, he said.

#6: At least five Torbat residents who took up arms against the attacking insurgents have been killed, said Reza, national army spokesman for Faryab and Jawzajan. Groups of Taliban simultaneously attacked a village in northern Faryab province in an apparent attempt to take control of the village from government forces, local officials said. According to unconfirmed reports, the Taliban captured Torbat village in Almar district, but government officials said it is too soon to confirm because the clash with security forces is ongoing. The insurgents "attacked from four sides" at around 5:00AM, according to the provincial police chief Abdul Khaliq Aqsai, adding that both national and local police forces are fighting back. At least two local police have been killed and another one was wounded, Reza said, adding that the casualties among the Taliban are still unclear.

#7: Ten Taliban militants were killed as NATO-led forces aircraft raided their hideout in Helmand province 555 km south of capital Kabul on Friday, police spokesman in the province, Farid Ahmad Farhang said Saturday. "A group of Taliban rebels were going in Marja district to target security forces when the aircraft of NATO-led ISAF identified their hideout and attacked them killing 10 militants on the spot," Farhang told Xinhua.

#8: In the meantime Afghan interior ministry following a statement on Saturday announced more than 20 militants were killed following military operations by Afghan security forces. The source further added Afghan security forces also detained more than 21 other militants during the operations which were conducted in Kabul, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Paktiya and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Orion N. Sparks

DoD: Sgt. Jonathan A. Gollnitz

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