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, January 12, 2008

War News for Saturday, January 12, 2008

Photo: A Sunni militant guards a checkpoint at Baghdad's al-Adhamiyah district in 2007. Shiite and Sunni members of Iraq's parliament have buried their differences to pass a controversial bill allowing former officials of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life. (AFP/File/Ali Yussef)

Security Incidents:

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces arrested 15 gunmen during operations on Friday and Saturday in central and northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - Two roadside bombs exploded in succession, wounding two people in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Baghdad - Two unknown bodies found in Baghdad

Baghdad - Around 10 a.m. two roadside bombs targeted civilians in Beirut square, injuring two civilians.

Baghdad - 1 hostage freed, 7 suspects arrested during past 24 hours. The Iraqi security forces managed to set free a kidnapped hostage, arrest seven wanted men and suspects and seize three vehicles owned by gunmen in Baghdad's al-Karkh and al-Rasafa sections within the Baghdad security plan Fardh al-Qanoon during the past 24 hours, an official said.

Diyala - A parked car bomb targeted an Iraqi army convoy in Al Wajihiya, two soldiers were injured, one civilian and one child were injured. [Another story says that four security men were wounded. I don’t know if this is the same incident or not. – dancewater]

Nineveh - Gunmen killed a police officer near his house in Al Sukar neighborhood.

Sulaimaniyah - Gunmen killed Sherwan Uthman, a liquor shop owner, in Sulaimaniyah yesterday night, police said.

DHULUIYA - Gunmen killed six people in attacks on two houses, including a former Iraqi army officer and two members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol in a village near Dhuluiya, 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Anbar province - U.S. soldier killed in non-combat incident in Anbar

Basra - Policeman killed, 1 wounded by gunmen fire in Basra

Mosul - Gunman arrested, arms cache seized in Ninewa Police forces discovered a cache of weapons and ammunition in Ninewa's Talafar district and arrested a gunman who was hiding inside, a local police chief said on Saturday. A local police force found a cache of arms and ammunition inside a house in al-Bawari area, western Mosul, and arrested a gunman who was inside it.

Posted by Dancewater at 11:11 AM

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