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 30, 2009

War News for Friday, October 30, 2009

There were no ISAF casualties in the past 24 hours.


Simple Afghan mission turns deadly for U.S. soldiers:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated targeting civilians in Palestine Street in east Baghdad around 6 p.m. Thursday.

#2: A senior police officer on a team investigating two high-profile bombings was found shot dead in his office, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A rocket landed south of the city of Kirkuk on Thursday but did not explode, a source from the city’s Joint Coordination Center (JCS) said. “An unidentified rocket landed in the area of Huzayran 1 but did not explode,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Three policemen were killed and an officer wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on a checkpoint in western Mosul city on Thursday, a local security source said. “Unidentified gunmen attacked a checkpoint of the 1st Emergency Police Contingent in al-Amil district, western Mosul, killing three personnel and wounding an officer in the rank of captain,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The attacking gunmen used bombs and guns,” the source added, not giving further details about the incident.

#2: On Thursday afternoon, two gunmen opened fire upon a policeman in Al-Karama neighborhood in east Mosul. The policeman fired back the gunmen wounding one of them while the other one run.

#3: Police found the bullet-ridden body of man carrying a Kurdish police badge west of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Tal Afar:
#1: Three people, including a policeman, were wounded on Friday in a sticky bomb explosion in north of Talafar, a medical source said. “The explosion occurred in al-Nekhwa neighborhood in north of Talafar,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that they were rushed to the Talafar hospital for treatment.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A civilian man was wounded when an improvised explosive device attached to his vehicle went off in central Ramadi city on Thursday, a local police source said. “The man, an employee of the Anbar Investment Department of the name Ahmed al-Dulaimi, was wounded when an IED attached to his vehicle went off while he was driving by,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani forces killed two dozen militants in 24 hours and were closing in on a prominent insurgent stronghold in the mountains of South Waziristan, the army said Friday. Government soldiers now control the hills above the village of Sararogha, where Taliban leaders long have operated openly, officials said in a statement. The army said during the advance two Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant mortar attack and three were injured in a bombing.

#2: A roadside bomb killed eight civilians in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, officials said. In Nangarhar, a Reuters witness said a car was being driven through a dry river bed when it was hit by the bomb. Villagers said a tribal elder who was a passenger in the car appeared to be the target of attack. A woman was among those killed, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.


DoD: Spc. Brandon K. Steffey

DoD: Lance Cpl. Cody R. Stanley

DoD: Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez

DoD: Sgt. Fernando Delarosa

DoD: Sgt. Dale R. Griffin

DoD: Sgt. Issac B. Jackson

DoD: Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson

DoD: Spc. Jared D. Stanker

DoD: Pfc. Christopher I. Walz

DoD: Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery

DoD: Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons

DoD: Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb

DoD: Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez

DoD: Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger

DoD: Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop

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