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


Monday, October 12, 2009

War News for Monday, October 12, 2009

No International Security Assistance Force service members were killed over the past 24 hours.


Oct. 7 airpower summary:

Oct. 8 airpower summary:

Oct. 9 airpower summary:

Iraq's Anbar bombings only latest sign of trouble:

killed wounded missing oil pipeline train attack attacked:

Civilian Goals Largely Unmet in Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi high-ranking police officer escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb explosion in central Baghdad on Monday, which left four people injured, a well-informed police source said. "Major General Ahmed Sabri, a police chief in the Iraqi federal police, survived a roadside bomb blast near his convoy in Karrada neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast damaged one of the convoy's vehicles and caused damages to several nearby shops and buildings, the source said. One of Sabri's bodyguards was among the wounded, the source said.

A bomb attached to a car wounded a senior Interior Ministry officer, a policeman and three civilians in Karrada district in central Baghdad, police said.

#2: One civilian on Monday was injured in an armed attack in the capital Baghdad, according to the Iraqi police. “Four gunmen driving a civilian vehicle attacked a civilian who was inside his car with his wife in al-Nosour Square, western Baghdad,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The man was shot with a silencer-equipped gun and was taken to the nearby al-Yarmuk Hospital, the source noted.

#3: Two roadside bombs targeted civilians near the market area in Mahmoudiya town south of Baghdad killing one civilian and injuring eight others on Sunday.

#4: Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division—Baghdad Soldiers detained five suspects in southern Baghdad after the U.S. patrol was attacked Oct. 9. Soldiers of the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team were attacked with RKG-3 anti-armor grenades, and the suspects fled the scene on foot into a local neighborhood. No U.S. Soldiers were injured and only minor damage to one humvee was reported.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An armed man was killed in a roadside bomb blast while he was planting it on a main road in the al-Jazeera area, some 35 km northeast of the provincial capital of Baquba, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: In separate incident, another roadside bomb detonated near a civilian car while travelling near the town of Buhruz, some 10 km south of Baquba, wounding four civilians aboard, the source said.

Two separate roadside bombs killed three people and wounded three others in Buhriz, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#3: Also in Diyala, a civilian was injured when a roadside bomb struck an ambulance vehicle near the town of Hibhib, some 20 km northwest of Baquba. Security forces cordoned off the area and apprehended a suspect, the source said.

#4: In addition, one civilian was injured by a makeshift bomb explosion near his car in the Gatoon area, west of Baquba, the source added.

#5: A roadside bomb killed a day labourer and wounded two others in Buhriz, police said.


Tikrit:
#1: Update One police ranking officer was killed and three other policemen were injured when a roadside bomb targeted their vehicle in central Tikrit.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Monday shot down an Iraqi contractor in Ninewa’s Mosul City, according to a local security source. “This morning, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a contractor in Aski area, western Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Four children and their mother have been injured when unknown gunmen blew up a nearby house in Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “The blast, which occurred in al-Islah al-Ziraie neighborhood, western Mosul, caused significant damage to the building, which was deserted,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A bomb planted near a tailor shop for military uniforms wounded one civilian in central Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One policeman on Sunday was injured in an explosive charge blast in Anbar’s Falluja, according to a local security source. “A roadside explosive device hit a police patrol vehicle on a street in downtown al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, wounding one patrolman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The cop was taken to the hospital for treatment and all roads leading to the scene of the blast have been blocked, the source added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Australian soldiers and members of the Afghan National Security Forces were conducting operations in Southern Afghanistan on Saturday 10 October 2009, when they were engaged by violent extremists. An Australian soldier was wounded during this engagement sustaining non life threatening injuries.

#2: Update The Pakistani military says the main aim of a militant attack on army headquarters was to take top officers hostage and use them to negotiate the release of jailed comrades. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told reporters Monday that the militants who launched the weekend attack came from the area of South Waziristan. The army is planning an offensive against the Taliban in that area, which is along the Afghan border. The 22-hour raid on the army compound killed 23 people, including nine militants and 14 others.

Ten militants, dressed as soldiers, struck the army headquarters Saturday. They were intercepted by guards at the gates but five of them sneaked into one of the compound's buildings, taking 42 officials hostage. Commandos stormed the besieged building early Sunday and rescued 39 hostages, but three were killed by militant fire, according to the military. Major General Athar Abbas, the army's chief spokesman, said eight soldiers and nine militants were killed over the weekend while the leader of the attackers, Aqeel, was wounded and captured.

#3: In the latest attack, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near an army vehicle in a market in the northwest Shangla district, provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said. The attack killed 41, including six security officers, and wounded 45 other people, he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Shangla lies east of Swat, which has been the focus of an intense military operation against the Taliban.

#4: Taliban targets in the troubled north-western region near the Afghan border Monday, killing at least 12 militants, officials said. The airstrikes took place in the Bajaur tribal district, where government forces in March declared victory after a six-month offensive against the Taliban. 'Jets strafed suspected militant hideouts in the Mamund area, destroying several houses,' a duty officer of the local administration said. 'We are still waiting for casualty figures.'

#5: Over two dozen anti-government insurgents were killed and injured during military operation in Taliban birthplace Kandahar in south Afghanistan, a private television channel aired Monday. Twenty five militants were killed in joint operation of Afghan and international troops launched in Shurabak district in Kandahar province Sunday night, Tolo television reported in its bulletin.

#6: Three Afghan soldiers were killed as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Paktia province east of Afghanistan, a press release of Defense Ministry said here Monday. "The incident occurred in Gardasiri district on Sunday when the soldiers were on routine patrol to ensure security, leaving three dead," the press release added.

0 comments: