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, July 1, 2013

War News for Monday, July 01, 2013


Nearly 300 Afghan police killed in month

Blasts Kill Dozens in Pakistan During British Leader’s Visit


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan security forces shot dead a would-be suicide bomber in central Kabul on Monday outside an intelligence agency office and close to the EU mission, officials said. The attacker, who was wearing military uniform, was killed as he approached the National Directorate of Security (NDS) office early in the morning.

#2: A car bomb exploded as a convoy of paramilitary troops passed through the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, police said. Most of the dead and wounded were civilians. The blast struck one vehicle in the convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps troops, but the other passed by safely, said police official Shafiullah Khan.

#3: a regional police commander and three of his men were killed when their vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb in the country's north. Baghlan provincial police spokesman Jaweed Basharat said district commander Habinul Rahman was killed when the bomb exploded next to his vehicle while on patrol at about 11 a.m.

#4: In the western province of Badghis, 12 Taliban militants were killed in two days of fighting at three border security posts, provincial governor's spokesman Mirwas Mirzakwal said. Three policemen were wounded, but none were killed, he said.

#5: Unknown gunmen attacked a police check post situated on Ring Road and killed two policemen. DSP Banaras Circle told Geo News that the gunmen attacked the police check post near Abbas Terminal on Ring Road where the policemen were performing their duty. Three gunmen riding two motorcycles attacked the police check post and escaped after the attack.

#6: One person was killed and three sustained injuries as a vehicle hit the planted landmine by some unknown persons on Monday here, FP News Desk reported. Official sources said that a vehicle hit landmine planted beside the road in the bordering area Malikhel, which resulted in the death of one person and three injured. The injured were shifted to the nearby hospital.

#7: Twenty-two militants have been killed during military operations in different Afghan provinces within the last 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Monday morning. "Afghan National Police (ANP) with the cooperation of army, intelligence service and coalition forces conducted several cleanup operations in Nangarhar, Sari Pul, Jowzjan, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktiya, Farah, Helmand and Nimroz provinces over the last 24 hours. As a result 22 armed Taliban were killed and nine other Taliban were detained," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

#8: In northern Kunduz province, a suicide attacker was killed when his explosive jacket went off prematurely earlier Monday morning. The killed militants were riding a motorcycle along a road in Dasht-e-Archi district in the province 250 km north of Kabul and no civilian was harmed in the bombing, the district administrative chief Sheikh Sadruddin told Xinhua. The target of the attacker remained unknown.

#9: A heavy explosion rocked northern Parwan province of Afghanistan on Monday. According to reports the explosion has taken place near the provincial governor’s compound after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in Charikar city. In the meantime Provincial governor spokesman Abdul Manan Kohistani said an explosion took place around 10:30am local time after an explosives packed in an oil tanker went off. Mr. Kohistani further added that at least three civilians were critically injured following the incident. He said the explosion took place near the provincial higher studies directorate.

 
US/DoD: Sgt. Justin R. Rogers

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