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


Sunday, January 18, 2009

War News for Sunday, January 18, 2009

Here's one of my favorite maps of the neighborhoods in Baghdad. Click on it to enlarge it.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from enemy fire close to the District Centre of Sangin, Helmand Province on Saturday, January 17th.

Xinhua is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier from a helicopter crash in Kunar province, Afghanistan on Saturday, January 17th. No other details are available

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier in a roadside bombing in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday, January 18th.


Iraq Occupation Bush`s `Mother Of All Mistakes

Air Force turns to acupuncture treatment:

Dutch officials hid critical Iraq report:

Tensions Rise on Korean Peninsula:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The deputy head of the U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrols programme was wounded when a bomb exploded near his house on Saturday in the al-Furat district of southwestern Baghdad, police said. Five of his neighbours were wounded in the blast.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded three policemen on Saturday when it targeted their patrol near central Baghdad's Al-Shaab stadium, police said.

#3: A mortar round wounded two Iraqi soldiers on Saturday in the Jamiaa district of western Baghdad, police said.

#4: A roadside bomb explosion struck a U.S. patrol on Sunday morning in the al-Jadida district, or New Baghdad, in the southeast of the capital, wounding three bystanders, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The source could not tell whether the patrol sustained any casualty as the U.S. troops sealed off the area, preventing the Iraqi police from approaching the scene.

#5: A car bomb went off in southeastern Baghdad on Sunday, leaving an unidentified number of casualties ambulances rushed to hospitals for treatment, eyewitnesses said. “A car bomb blew up near al-Amin souk (market), southeastern Baghdad, leaving a number of victims,” an eyewitness in the scene of the blast told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Shooting from unidentified directions followed the explosion,” he added.

#6: A roadside bomb wounded three policemen in the Mashtal district of east Baghdad, police said.

#7: A roadside bomb targeting a lorry carrying pre-cast blast walls wounded two civilians in the Yarmouk district of west Baghdad, police said.

#8: A roadside bomb near a restaurant wounded eight civilians in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad.


Kut:
#1: Three Katyusha rockets on Sunday targeted a Multi-National Force (MNF) base in Wassit province, but no casualties were reported, according to a local police source. “This evening, the MNF-run Delta Base (15 km west of Kut city) was hit by three Katyusha missiles,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The source did not reveal whether the attack has caused damage or casualties.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen in a car killed two guards protecting a communication tower on Saturday in northeastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen in a car shot dead an off-duty policeman on Saturday in northern Mosul, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded a policeman and a civilian in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#4: Meanwhile, Iraqi army forces defused two explosive charges in al-Masaref neighborhood, northern Mosul, without causing any damage,” the source added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani security forces, backed by artillery and tanks, have killed 14 Taliban insurgents in heavy fighting in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border, a government official said on Sunday. The latest fighting in the northwest broke out Saturday evening when militants attacked troops conducting searches. "They launched the attack from a hideout. Our troops responded quickly and destroyed it and killed 14 miscreants," Miraj Khan, a government official in the region, told Reuters. Two paramilitary soldiers were killed in the clash that went on for several hours, he said.

#2: A bridge located in Kandahar-Herat highway, also connecting Baqwa and Delaram districts destroyed completely by strong explosion. Mohammad Yunoos Rasoli, deputy governor of above mentioned province, told media that 4 passengers injured in this incident. According to him, anti-government insurgents wanted to explode this bridge by passing foreign forces on the bridge.

Posted by whisker at 4:57 AM

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