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


Friday, October 16, 2009

War News for Friday, October 16, 2009

Photo: By David Goldman, AP: Members of Apache Company, 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, part of the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Combat Brigade, cover an injured U.S. soldier as a helicopter lands to evacuate the wounded after their armored vehicle was damaged by a roadside bomb in the Tangi Valley of Afghanistan's Wardak Province.


CNN is reporting the deaths of four U.S. service members in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 15th.


Oct. 12 airpower summary:

Oct. 13 airpower summary:

Italians bribed the Taliban all over Afghanistan: officials

Pakistan Attacks Show Tightening of Militant Links:

Karzai Aide Says Afghan Runoff Vote Is Likely:

Commander's letter tackles troops' morale in Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian was killed and three persons were wounded Thursday in a roadside bomb blast in northeastern Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb went off targeting an Iraqi army vehicle patrol neat al-Nedaa mosque in al-Qahera neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad, killing a civilian and injuring three, including two soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq new agency.

Tal Afar:
#1: A suicide bomber opened fire on worshippers Friday at a mosque in northern Iraq and then blew himself up, killing 11 people and wounding 42, police and hospital officials said. The attacker fired shots from AK-47 rifle at a Sunni mosque in the city of Tal Afar, a local police official said. When the shooter ran out of ammunition, he detonated his explosives belt, the official said.
Al Anbar Prv:

#1: Iraqi border guards clashed with smugglers on the Iraqi-Syrian borders in west of Mosul while attempting to smuggle amounts of sugar, a military source said on Friday. “A force from the 6th brigade of the border guards clashed late Thursday (Oct. 15) with smugglers who fled to the Syrian side,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The clashes left no casualties,” he added, without adding more details.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb at a mosque next to a police station in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday, killing 11 people in the latest bloodshed in an unrelenting wave of terror that has hit the country. The attacker in Peshawar appeared to be aiming at the heavily guarded police station with a 150 pound (70 kilogram) car bomb, said Malik Shafqat, a police explosives expert. When guards outside tried to stop the car, the bomber detonated the explosives, he said. The blast badly damaged the mosque as well as the police station. The blast killed 11 people, including three police officers, two women and two children, said Liaqat Ali Khan, the Peshawar police chief. Another 15 people were wounded, including criminal suspects who were being detained inside the police station at the time of the attack, officials said.

#2: Military planes bombed suspected militant positions in Laddah, Nawazkot, Khaisora, Saam, Sararogha and Tiarza areas of South Waziristan on Thursday. At least 32 militants and non-combatants were killed in the air strikes. According to reports reaching here, 12 people were killed and seven others injured in Kanigram and Karama areas of Laddah and nine in Nawazkot area adjacent to North Waziristan. Five people were killed when their car was hit in Maulvi Khan Sarai and six people died and five wounded in Tiarza.

#3: Officials said that three security personnel were injured when a military base in Jandola came under a rocket attack.

#4: In Ghazni province Friday, a woman and a school-age girl were killed in crossfire during a raid by security forces against militants, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

#5: In Wardak province Friday, troops "killed enemy militants and detained several suspected militants" during a search for a Taliban commander.

DM: Primo Caporal Maggiore Rosario

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