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


Tuesday, September 1, 2009

War News for Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in an IED attack north of the Lashkar Gah District, Helmand Province , Afghanistan on Monday, August 31th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 31st. We suspect this to be an American.


Aug. 27 airpower summary:

Iraq Civilian Deaths Are Highest Since April:

South Oil Company to reach efficient levels of production in 2 years:

Groundwork Is Laid for New Troops in Afghanistan:

Pentagon worried about Obama's commitment to Afghanistan:

Might should not be international law: (a very interesting commentary from a Pakistani perspective. -- whisker)


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday exploded near a gas station in eastern Baghdad, targeting a security patrol, according to eyewitnesses. “This morning, an IED stuck to a civilian car went off near a gas station on Falasteen St., near Beirut Square, targeting a National Guard forces patrol,” an eyewitness told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.A source from the Iraqi police said that two civilians were wounded in the blast.

#2: Monday Three civilians were wounded by an adhesive bomb that was stuck to a civilian car in Athemiyah neighborhood in northeast Baghdad around 3 p.m.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Five people were killed and 18 others wounded in a car bomb explosion on Monday evening at a busy popular market in the town of Qara Tabba, some 190 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: Also late on Monday, Udai al-Khadran, mayor of the town of Khalis, some 70 km northeast of Baghdad, escaped with wounds a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy while passing a crowded popular market in the town, which killed a civilian and wounded 14more people, the source added. Khdran's son, brother and three of his bodyguards were among the wounded, he said.

#3: Early on Tuesday morning, four gunmen in a car shot dead the head of a local Awakening Council group near his house in the northern provincial capital city of Baquba, the source said.

#4: Eight more people, including a policeman, were wounded in separate incidents across the province, the source added.


Mahmoudiyah:
#1: Monday Two civilians were killed and ten others were injured by a roadside bomb inside a market place in Mahmoudiyah area in south Baghdad around 6 p.m.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unknown gunmen kidnapped a civilian in southern Kirkuk on Monday, a source from the joint coordination center said. “Unknown armed men kidnapped on Monday (Aug. 31) one citizen from al-Askari neighborhood in southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“Police patrols found a hand grenade in front of a citizen’s house in Sanour village in Daqouq district, south of Kirkuk,” the same source said.


Mosul:
#1: Police forces managed on Monday to defuse a Katyusha rocket without casualties in southeastern Mosul, according to a security source.

#2: Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in northern Mosul on Monday, an army source said. “An explosive charge went off Monday afternoon targeting an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in al-Sukar neighborhood in northern Mosul, injuring three soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Gunmen using pistols with silencers killed a woman in Al-Mithaq neighborhood in south Mosul on Monday morning.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Government forces have destroyed three militant bases and killed five insurgents in Pakistan's northwestern border region, the military says. Two militant commanders were among those killed in the dawn raids in the Khyber region, a statement from the Frontier Corps said on Tuesday. It said 25 suspected militants were captured in the operation, which was continuing.

#2: A roadside bomb hit a vehicle of a U.S. security firm in the southern province of Zabul, killing an Afghan employee and wounding three, the Interior Ministry said.


DoD: Sgt. Earl D. Werner

DoD: Pvt. Taylor D. Marks

DoD: Spc. Abraham S. Wheeler III

DoD: Staff Sgt. Jason S. Dahlke

DoD: Pfc. Eric W. Hario

Posted by whisker at 4:14 AM

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