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, June 20, 2009

News of the Day for Saturday, June 20, 2009

A woman grieves for her husband, who was killed in a truck bomb attack, near Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, June 20, 2009. Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qader says Saturday's explosion occurred following noon prayers south of the disputed city.
(AP Photo/Emad Matti)


Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Four men dead of gunshot wounds found in Sadr City.

Taza, near Kirkuk

Car bomb attack on Shiite mosque. VoI is the only source giving the name of the town where this occurs, but others have much higher casualty totals. AFP is now reporting the death toll at 22. Reuters reports 80 wounded, 20 houses destroyed.

Later Reuters report puts death toll at 25, injuries at 150, 25 houses destroyed. "There was chaos at Kirkuk's main Azadi Hospital, where ambulance sirens wailed as workers rushed blood-splattered civilians, including several children, into the wards. Outside, security officials brandished assault rifles to stop traffic as pick-up trucks raced through the gates carrying more victims of the blast at the al-Rasul Mosque."

Kirkuk

IED attack on convoy of police Col. Abdullah Qadir injures 2 civilians.

Policeman stabbed to death.

Mosul

Gunmen attack the car of a vacationing policeman, kill him, injure his father. Reuters says it was his mother, not his father, who was injured.

Ramadi

In what appears to have been a rocket attack aimed at a police station, one rocket hits a civilian home, kills a child, injures six other people. Second rocket hits the police station and injures two police officers.

Muqdadiya

Curfew is imposed as security forces launch a crack down.

Other News of the Day

Addressing a group of Turkomen, al-Maliki says U.S. withdrawal from cities in coming days will be a "great victory" for Iraq.

U.S. transfers control of a Joint Security Station in Sadr City to Iraqis. (Not entirely clear what the practical effect of this ceremony is; this type of station has always been jointly operated, the article does not say that the U.S. troops are actually leaving. -- C

Afghanistan Update

Roadside bomb kills 3 civilians, injures 3 in Herat. Apparently intended to attack security forces, attacked civilian vehicle by mistake.

British soldier killed by explosion in Helmand province.

Coalition soldier killed in attack on U.S. convoy in eastern Afghanistan, no further details released.

Posted by Cervantes at 4:37 AM

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