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 17, 2009

War News for Wednesday, June 17, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier from a non-combat related incident in Ninewah Province, Iraq on Tuesday, June 16th.

The Danish MoD is reporting the deaths of three Danish ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 17th.


June 14 airpower summary:

Iraq oil ministry to push ahead with deal tender:

US troops ask Syria to thwart al-Qa'ida offensive:

CIA Fights Full Release Of Detainee Report:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Five people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in central Baghdad's Karrada district, police said.


Iskandariya:
#1: Gunmen killed a man in a drive-by shooting late on Tuesday in Iskandariya town, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and foreign soldiers killed three insurgents during clashes in Ziruk district of southeastern Paktika province on Tuesday, the Defence Ministry said. No soldiers were wounded in the incident, it said.

#2: Insurgents attacked a NATO-led base in Maidan Shahr district of Wardak province, west of Kabul on Tuesday, the alliance said. Soldiers returned fire from the base, wounding three civilians, it said.

#3: NATO-led soldiers wounded one civilian when they fired a mortar round during a "training event" from a forward operating base in Pech district of eastern Kunar province on Tuesday, the alliance said.

#4: During last 24 hours, 22 militants were killed and 17 others were arrested in northwestern Pakistan, according to a military press release Wednesday. A security forces' personnel was injured during the ongoing operation in Malakand of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), it said.

#5: Unknown armed men gunned down head of Oil Dept. in the stable northern province of Kunduz on Wednesday. Mohammad Nazem Jamal, the key government official in Shir Khan harbour, on Afghan-Tajik border was shot dead on his way to office, provincial spokesman Mahbubullah Sayedi said. The armed men kidnapped his driver and took away his vehicle, he said. According to the spokesman, gunmen stopped his vehicle on Kunduz-Shir Khan highway and killed him on the spot. The reason is not clear yet, Sayedi added.

#6: Three Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were wounded as their van hit a roadside bomb here in Khost province of eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, provincial administration spokesman Kochai Nasiri said. Nasiri told Xinhua that the bombing took place in Nadirshahkot district at around noon time, in which three ANA soldiers' sustained injuries and their van was damaged.

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