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


Saturday, November 28, 2009

War News for Saturday, November 28, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier of non-combat related injuries in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Friday, November 27th.

ISAF suffered no fatalities in the last 24 hours.


Baghdad Garden Becomes Graveyard, Full of Grieving:

3 Ukrainians died in Afghan helicopter crash:

Military divorces edge up again:

Afghans Offer Jobs to Taliban Rank and File if They Defect:

2 Afghans allege abuse at U.S. site:


Reported security incidents

Hilla:
#1: Eight persons, including two policemen, were wounded in an attack with six mortar shells that mistargeted the U.S. consulate in south central Iraq, a police source said on Saturday. “The U.S. consulate, which is taking the Babel Tourist Hotel, as its headquarters in central al-Hilla city, was the target of an attack with six mortars. The shells landed outside the building


Diwaniya:
#1: A Katyusha rocket landed in the environs of a U.S. forces camp west of al-Diwaniya city on Friday but no word emerged yet on possible casualties, an Iraqi army source said. “The Katyusha landed in ECHO camp of the U.S. forces, (3 km) west of Diwaniya, but no information is available on casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “U.S. and Iraqi forces cordoned off the area of Khairi, (8 km) south of Diwaniya, with U.S. helicopters hovering intensively overhead,” the source added, noting a missile launching pad was seized near the camp.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) went off near a house east of al-Falluja city on Friday but no casualties were reported, a police source in al-Anbar province said. “An IED laid inside a garbage can near a house in al-Dhubbat neighborhood, east of Falluja, went off today (Friday) but left no casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Thirteen prisoners, including some Taliban militants, escaped overnight from the main prison in the city of Farah, western Afghanistan, the police said Saturday. The inmates used a tunnel to escape from the jail, which holds about 80 prisoners, Farah provincial police chief Faqir Ahmad Askar said.

#2: At least eight militants were killed in the military operation in northwest Pakistan's Khyber tribal agency on Saturday, local TV channels reported. According to the Frontier Constabulary (FC) media cell, Pakistani security forces surrounded militants strongholds in Baratribal area, killed eight militants and injured several others during fierce clashes, the private TV Express reported.

#3: A bomb exploded in a trash can in the centre of the Afghan capital on Saturday causing little damage and no injuries, the Interior Ministry said, Reuters reported. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary described the device that exploded in the Wazir Akbar Khan embassy district as a "sound bomb", meaning it was designed to make a loud noise rather than cause any damage. A Reuters witness at the scene said there was some damage to a nearby wall but the impact looked small.

#4: Unknown armed men gunned down an acting provincial director of Afghan Red Crescent in Takhar province of northern Afghanistan, a private television channel reported on Saturday. "Makhdom Abdullah was leaving a mosque in Farkhar district after Eidul Adha prayer on Friday, when unidentified armed men opened fire, killing him on the spot, "Tolo television quoted provincial police chief Ziahuddin Mahmodi as saying in a news bulletin.

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