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


Friday, November 11, 2011

War News for Friday, November 11, 2011

US Soldier Gets Life Sentence In Afghan Killings

Remains of US troops killed in Iraq dumped in a landfill

Taliban target mobile phone masts to prevent tipoffs from Afghan civilians


Reported security incidents

Diyala Province:
#1: A member of the pro-government Al-Sahwa (Awakening) forces was killed and two wounded in two separate incidents in Diala province, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that unknown attackers, expected as members of Qaeda organization, shot one of the Sahwa members near his residence in Muqdadiayh country, 45 km east of Baaquba city. He died immediately and the culprits fled the scene, as the source said. On the other hand, a bomb exploded injuring two members of Sahwa forces, with no details on the incident.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Australian soldier has been wounded after coming under fire from insurgents in Afghanistan. A joint patrol of Afghan and Australian troops came under fire from insurgents in the southern province of Uruzgan. The Australian soldier was wounded by small arms fire after more than four hours of skirmishes between the patrol and insurgent gunmen armed with automatic weapons. The incident happened in the Deh Rafshan district, 12 kilometres east of the Australian base at Tarin Kot.

#2: Taliban suicide attackers stormed a government office in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing three Afghan policemen and wounding three US soldiers, officials said. The attackers are believed to have been targeting a meeting between the governor of Chamkani district in Paktia province and local elders who were due to attend a government-organised loya jirga or traditional meeting in Kabul next week. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said it helped end the attack by destroying a mosque where gunmen had hidden, launching a Hellfire missile and rockets from an Apache helicopter. Provincial government spokes­man Rohullah Samoon said there were four attackers, one of whom detonated a car bomb at the gates of the district centre, allowing three others to enter. “They have all been killed,” he said. “Three of our policemen have also been killed and the district police chief has been injured but is in stable condition. The fighting is over now.”

#3: Unknown gunmen killed two women and wounded a child in Ghazni province on Wednesday, said Mohammad Hashim, police chief of the second district of Ghazni, the location of the shooting.


DoD: Pfc. Cody R. Norris

MoD: Private Matthew Thornton

Posted by whisker at 3:04 AM

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