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, January 5, 2010

War News for Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Jan. 1 airpower summary: Jan. 2 airpower summary:

Iraq cabinet ratifies four major oilfield deals:

CIA Afghan base bomber was triple agent: Reports

US spy work lacking in Afghanistan:

Five missing, apparently kidnapped in Afghanistan:

Behind Afghan Bombing, an Agent With Many Loyalties:

Yemeni officials, fearing backlash, play down partnership with U.S:

FACTBOX-Yemen's oil, gas industry:

Pakistan worried U.S. buildup in Afghanistan will send militants across border:


Reported security incidents

Tal Afar:
#1: Iraqi forces on Monday afternoon found the bodies of two brothers who had been kidnapped four years ago in Talafar, according to a security source. “Iraqi forces found on Monday afternoon (Jan. 4) two bodies of brothers in a deserted house in al-Wehda neighborhood in central Talafar, northwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bodies belong to two brothers who were kidnapped in 2005 on Talafar-Sinjar road,” he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A gun battle between Afghan-international forces and Taliban fighters left two insurgents dead and five others wounded in eastern Afghan province of Laghman, provincial police chief said Tuesday. "Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Sorkhakan area on Kabul-Jalalabad road Monday night at around 8 p.m. local time and police called on Afghan National Army and NATO-led forces," Abdul Karim Omaryar told Xinhua. Taliban militants ambushed the joint forces after they arrived in the area, and troops returned fire, killing two militants and wounding five others, he added. No casualties on joint forces have been reported, he said. A local resident, Samiullah, told Xinhua, via cell phone that the firefight lasted for over an hour, adding that "the high way was blocked for hours."


MoD: Private Robert Hayes

DoD: Spc. Brushaun X. Anderson

DoD: Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith


Slow news day for the wars, enjoy it now before all hell breaks out later in the spring -- whisker.

Posted by whisker at 4:21 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)