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


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

War News for Wednesday, January 27, 2010

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes:

NATO, Kazakhstan agree on Afghan supply route:

Two Koreas trade fire:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi police say two people have been killed in a drive-by shooting targeting buses carrying Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad. Two police officials say gunmen in a speeding car opened fire Wednesday on the buses as they passed through a Sunni-dominated neighborhood in northwest Baghdad. The officials say an Iranian woman and a bus driver have been killed and that five pilgrims also have been injured. The buses were on their way to the shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, a much revered Shiite saint.

#2: Three civilians were wounded on Tuesday by a sticky bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, a police source said on Wednesday. “A bomb, stuck to the car of Dr. Sawsan Abdulwahab, went off while passing Raghbat Khatoun neighborhood in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast injured the doctor and two passing civilians and damaged the car,” he added.


Kut:
#1: Anti-explosives department managed to defuse two bombs targeting Shiite visitors in western Kut, a source from the department said on Wednesday. “The two bombs, planted on the road linking between Kut and al-Ahrar district, were defused by the anti-explosives squad,” he source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bombs were targeting visitors of Imam al-Hussein’s Arbaeen,” he added. “The first bomb consists of a mortar shell tied with a remote, while the second bombs contains 10 kg of C4,” he explained.


Mosul:
#1: Four policemen and one civilian were wounded in a suicide bombing attack in northwest of Mosul, a security source said on Wednesday. “A suicide bomber blew up an explosive belt strapped to his body on Wednesday (Jan. 27) near a police station in Zamar district, northwest of Mosul, targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol, injuring four policemen and one civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast caused no injuries among U.S. troops,” he added.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a local district official in eastern Mosul, police said.

#3: Gunmen killed one person in a crowded market in central Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb planted near a house in northwestern Pakistan exploded Wednesday after children playing nearby tried to open it, killing three of them, said police. The blast partly destroyed the house in Nanger Khani village in Upper Dir, an area near Pakistan's volatile Afghan border, said police official Gul Zameen Khan. Police are investigating why the bomb was placed there, he said.

#2: Thirteen police and civilian explosives experts were wounded Wednesday when a homemade bomb they were trying to defuse in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir detonated, said police official Iftikhar Kiani. The explosives were hidden in a milk container planted on a road leading to a military base, he said. Two of the wounded men were transferred to the garrison town of Rawalpindi outside the capital, Islamabad, because of the serious nature of their injuries, said Kiani.

#3: Taliban fighters have killed a pro-government militia leader in northwest Pakistan's Bajaur district, where helicopters have been shelling insurgent hideouts, officials said Wednesday. The body of Malik Manaris Khan, 47, was found riddled with bullets early Wednesday in Salarzai town, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Khar, the main city in Bajaur, which is in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. "He was kidnapped on Monday along with two other tribesmen. Today (Wednesday), we found his dead body," said Naseeb Shah, a local administrative official, blaming the Taliban movement for the abductions. "He was leading an anti-Taliban lashkar (militia) in his village."

#4: "Helicopter gunships have been shelling Taliban hideouts in Salarzai and the adjacent town of Mamoond since Tuesday," Shah said. Another government official said that the shelling had killed at least six militants and wounded another four in the last 24 hours. "We have reports that at least six militants were killed and four wounded. Helicopter gunships also destroyed several hideouts and some trenches," Firamosh Khan, an administrative official, told AFP by telephone.

#5: update A suicide car bomber struck a barrier outside a U.S. base in Kabul on Tuesday, wounding six Afghans and eight American troops. NATO forces confirmed a car bomb struck outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix, saying it was aimed at a civilian convoy that was entering the controlled checkpoint. Eight American service members suffered minor injuries, according to a statement.

#6: Five police were killed as a roadside bomb struck their van in Zabul province south of Afghanistan early Wednesday, a senior police commander Abdul Razaq said. "The gruesome incident occurred in Shamonzai district early today as a result five constables of Border Police Force were martyred," Razaq told Xinhua.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Kane

DoD: Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

DoD: Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

DoD: Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith

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