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


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

War News for Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Maj. Rocco M. Barnes died in a vehicle roll-over in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan on Thursday, June 4th.


June 8 airpower aummary:

Iraq reaffirms Kurdish oil contracts are illegal:

Attacked, Pakistani Villagers Take On Taliban:

Iraqi authorities shorten night curfew in Baghdad:


Reported Security incidents:



Bathaa:
#1: A car bomb ripped through a market district Wednesday in a mainly Shiite area in southern Iraq, killing as many as 35 people and wounding dozens, officials said. The explosives-laden car was parked in the center of the commercial area in the town of Bathaa when it blew up about 9 a.m., according to police. A spokesman for the Nasiriyah hospital, Kadhim al-Obeidi, said 35 people were killed and 45 wounded. An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to release the information, put the death toll at 28. The town is near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.


Hawija:
#1: Two gunmen were killed Wednesday while planting a bomb in southwest of Kirkuk, the local police chief said. “An explosive charge went off on Wednesday morning (June 10) while two gunmen were trying to plant it near Afsana region in al-Huwaiyja district in southwest of Kirkuk, killing them instantly,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A woman and her daughter were wounded in an improvised explosive device explosion in northeastern Mosul, according to a security source. “An explosive device went off on Tuesday (June 9) in front of a house in al-Ekhaa neighborhood in northeastern Mosul, wounding a woman and her daughter,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bomb exploded without targeting any military or police patrol,” he added, without giving further details.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy in Ras al Jada, central Mosul Tuesday afternoon injuring two civilian passers by.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: Four people were wounded on Tuesday in a booby-trapped bicycle explosion in central Falluja, a police officer said. “A bicycle bomb went off Tuesday (June 9) near al-Hadra mosque in central Falluja, wounding four persons,” Major Yassin Mohamed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The police sealed off the whole region,” he added, noting that the number of casualties was likely to increase.

The casualties from the bicycle bomb explosion that ripped through central Falluja on Tuesday rose to seven wounded, a police officer said.

At 3:10 p.m. a motor bike bomb detonated near Shakir restaurant in downtown Fallujah city on Tuesday targeting a police patrol that belongs to the police chief in the city. Four policemen were wounded with other five people who were at the scene.

#2: Around 11 a.m. a roadside bomb targeted the convoy of the police chief in Fallujah in Nazal neighborhood in the southern part of the city on Tuesday. Three of the colonel’s guards were wounded.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban militants, in a recent violent attack against government interest, killed two policemen Wednesday as they stormed Zand Khan district in Ghazni province of southern Afghanistan, police said. "A group of Taliban militants raided Zand Khan District by rockets and mortars today at around 11 a.m. (0630 GMT)," Khial BazShizai, police chief of Ghazni, told Xinhua. Shirzai said two policemen were killed and two more sustained injuries in a clash that took place after the rocket attacks. One police van was found missing after firefighting which is still ongoing, he added.

#2: In a separate incident, according to the police commander, one Afghan National Army soldier was killed and four others were wounded as their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Ghazni province. Shirzai noted that the roadside bombing took place in Qarabagh district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

#3: Taliban militants, in attempt to influence northern Afghanistan, ambushed police forces in the relatively peaceful Baghlan province when police returned fire killed four insurgents on the spot Wednesday, provincial governor Hajji Akbar Barikzai said. "In response to Taliban attack, Afghan security forces chased the militants and launched a cleanup operation in Magal village killing four rebels," Barikzai told Xinhua.

#4: In an ongoing sweep of the southern province of Uruzgan, around 30 Taliban had been killed in the past three days, provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat said.
"So far 30 Taliban militants have been killed in this operation including their local commander named Mohammad Uldin," Himat said. "Two Afghan police have also been killed and three are wounded."In an ongoing sweep of the southern province of Uruzgan, around 30 Taliban had been killed in the past three days, provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat said. "So far 30 Taliban militants have been killed in this operation including their local commander named Mohammad Uldin," Himat said. "Two Afghan police have also been killed and three are wounded."

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