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


Thursday, June 4, 2009

War News for Thursday, June 04, 2009

The Houston Chronicle is reporting the deaths of three American in a small arms attack and roadside bombing attack in an undisclosed location in Kapisa Province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 4th. One additional soldier was wounded in the attack.

The Washington Post is reporting the death of an American soldier in a roadside bombing close to the eastern city of Gardez, Paktia province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 4th. No other details were released.

The DoD is reporting a new death of a U.S. Marine who died in a non-hostile incident in an undisclosed location in Khandahar province, Afghanistan on Sunday, May 31st.


Romanian leader in Iraq to mark troop departure:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials say a bomb exploded in south-west Baghdad on Wednesday evening, killing nine people and injuring many others. The device was planted inside a cafe and was detonated as customers watched a football match on television. The blast was in a mainly Shia Muslim area and is the latest of several to take place in cafes in the evening.

A bomb attack has left 9 civilians dead and 31 others wounded in Baghdad. The bomb was apparently hidden in a bag brought in by an unidentified man who fled the scene before the blast, the source said.

#2: A policeman was wounded Thursday in an improvised explosive device blast in southern Baghdad, a police source said. “An explosive device, planted by unknown gunmen on the main road in al-Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad, went off targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Wednesday Three civilians were injured by a roadside bomb in Doura area south Baghdad around 8:30 p.m.


Shawmli:
#1: Wednesday Gunmen in a car shot and killed a man in Shawmli, south of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Mussayab:
#1: Wednesday A roadside bomb wounded three people when it exploded in front of a greengrocer's shop in Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: One policeman on Wednesday was killed and another was injured when unknown gunmen attacked their patrol vehicle in Mosul city, according to a local police source. “The shooting occurred in al-Zanjali area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The gunmen have fled to an unknown destination,” the source added.

#2: Iraqi forces found a female body in northwest of Mosul city, the director of the Talafar police said Thursday. “Security forces on Wednesday (June 3) found a body of a young girl in Owaynat village in northwest of Mosul,” Colonel Ali Hadi Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A suicide car bomber struck a convoy of sport utility vehicles (SUV) in Mosul on Thursday, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding six others, a local police source said. The bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the convoy of a foreign security firm around midday in the Dawassa neighborhood in southern Mosul, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. It was not clear whether the convoy sustained any casualty as the U.S. troops immediately sealed off the area, preventing Iraqi police from approaching the scene, the source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were wounded in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province, as their unit engaged with Taliban militants Thursday, an ANA officer said. "Taliban militants ambushed our unit in Abqul area of Baghlan Jadeed district, when we were on routine patrolling along with international troops," Hamidullah, an ANA officer, who took his wounded soldiers to hospital, told Xinhua.

#2: Three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb and then came under small-arms fire by insurgents in the eastern Afghanistan province of Kapisa, the U.S. military said in a statement. One Afghan soldier was also wounded in the attack. An earlier statement said Afghan and coalition troops called in air support after they were ambushed and two militants were killed in the clash.

#3: Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed six militants in a firefight in southeastern Paktika province during a raid overnight to capture a Taliban commander, the U.S. military said in a statement.

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