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, June 15, 2009

War News for Monday, June 15, 2009

The Canadian DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier in an IED strike in the vicinity of Panjwayi District, approximately 20 km southwest of Kandahar City, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 14th.


Airpower Summary for June 13, 2009:

Airpower Summary for June 12, 2009:

Pakistan to Strike at Leader of Taliban:

US Gen. McChrystal takes command in Afghanistan:

CIA chief believes Cheney almost wants US attacked: (This is from Reuters and appears not to be a joke)


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi authorities say at least two people were killed and six others wounded when two bombs planted on vehicles exploded Monday in the capital, Baghdad. Officials say one bomb was attached to a bus and a second was inside another vehicle in the mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab.

A bomb attached to a bus killed a man and his wife and wounded one other civilian in Shaab district, northern Baghdad, police said.

A bomb exploded inside a minibus, also in Shaab district, wounding five civilians, police said.

#2: An adhesive bomb targeted a Sahwa member in Mechanic neighbourhood in Doura, southern Baghdad at 9 a.m. Sunday. The explosion seriously injured the Sahwa member and injured two civilian passers by.


Diyala Prv:
Mandali:
#1: Six of the men (US-allied Sunni fighters) were killed on Sunday when gunmen ambushed a minibus carrying them from the town of Mandali near the Iranian border, according to a police officer in the Diyala province's security headquarters. Sheik Talab al-Nidawi confirmed the killings and said the slain men were all from his tribe. The attackers intercepted the men as they were travelling west to the city of Balad Ruz, where their group was headquartered, to discuss salaries and other issues, he said.

Balad Ruz:
#1: Three workers on Sunday were killed by unknown gunmen in Diala’s Baladroz district, according to a local security source. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on civilian workers, who were on their way back from work, killing three of them,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Diala policemen found six unidentified bodies northwest of Baaquba city on Sunday, the province’s police chief said. “A police force, in collaboration with local residents, found today (June 14) six unidentified bodies in the area of al-Nada, Baladruz district, (45 km) northwest of Baaquba,” Maj. General Abdulhussein al-Shimari told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The corpses showed signs of having been shot in the head and other areas,” he added.

Khalis:
#1: Two civilians were injured by a bomb in Khalis town north of Baquba around 12 p.m.


Tarmiyah:
#1: Another Sunni guard was killed and three others wounded when gunmen opened fire on their checkpoint on the northern outskirts of Tarmiyah, 50km north of Baghdad, a local police officer said.


Hawija:
#1: A roadside bomb found by the Multi-National Force (MNF) was detonated without causing any casualties or damage, a source from the combined coordination center in Kirkuk said on Monday. “The roadside bomb was found during an early hour this morning in al-Mansoriya village of al-Haweja suburb, 65 km southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: An ex-brigadier in the Iraqi army has been killed by unidentified gunmen in front of his house in Mosul city, a local security source said on Monday. “During a late hour on Sunday evening, unknown gunmen assassinated a retired officer in the former Iraqi army in front of his house in Falasteen neighborhood, southeastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The brigadier worked as the director of al-Kowir district in southeastern Mosul before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion,” the source noted.

#2: Three civilians on Sunday were injured in an explosive device blast in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “On Sunday, three civilians were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near a U.S. army patrol vehicle in al-Mosul al-Jadida area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The source did not provide further details.

#3: Three persons, including two cops, on Sunday were wounded in a hand grenade blast in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “On Sunday, three individuals, including two policemen, were injured when a gunman threw a hand grenade at an emergency police patrol vehicle on al-Korneesh St, downtown Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Three persons, including a policeman, on Sunday were wounded in an explosive charge blast in Mosul city, according to a local police source. “On Sunday, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a national police patrol vehicle at Wadi Hajar intersection, southern Mosul, wounding three persons, including a cop,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: An adhesive bomb stuck to the car of a Sahwa leader, Sheikh Jashaam Delef in Garma district, eastern Fallujah was discovered when worshippers leaving Friday prayers noticed a strange object under the Sheikhs car. American and Iraqi technicians were not able to defuse the magnetic bomb so they detonated it under control. No-one was hurt, said Iraqi police.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The US military along with Afghan security forces backed by war planes killed nearly two dozen insurgents in a clash in southern Afghanistan at the weekend, the US side said. The troops called in air support after militants attacked their patrol in Uruzgan province on Sunday, US military spokeswoman Captain Elizabeth Mathias told AFP. "Twenty-three militants were killed," she said, adding that three coalition soldiers were wounded in the gunfight.

#2: Pakistani forces pounded militants in tribal areas, after vowing an all-out assault on a Taliban chief in the lawless Afghan border region known to be an Al-Qaeda and rebel hideout. Security forces are already locked in a seven-week campaign against the insurgents in three other northwest districts, and late Sunday announced a "full-fledged" second front along the mountainous and wild tribal belt. Pakistan's jet planes, helicopter gunships and ground forces bombarded militant hideouts in the tribal areas and nearby districts on Sunday, officials said, with up to 44 suspected militants killed in the onslaught. "Air strikes and shelling by gunships killed 29 militants while 25 were wounded in Safi town of Mohmand tribal district," said a security official in Peshawar, the provincial capital just south of Mohmand.

Security forces continued their assault in Mohmand on Monday, while similar strikes hit Bajaur region on Sunday. "Eight militants including their commander were killed while a madrassa used by militants and one hideout were destroyed," said a security official based in Bajaur's main town of Khar. In the Jani Khel area of Bannu district -- which borders both North and South Waziristan -- militants fired rockets at a police station and an airport early Monday. "They escaped after suffering heavy losses," said Zahin-u-ddin, a local police official. "Seven militants were killed in the retaliatory attack."

#3: Afghan troops killed three insurgents in an operation in western Farah province, the defence ministry said on Monday.

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