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, February 27, 2010

War News for Saturday, February 27, 2010

The DoD is reporting the death of a soldier at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Thursday, February 25th. Sgt. William C. Spencer was wounded in in undisclosed injury while supporting combat operations at Combat Outpost Marez, Ninawa province, Iraq on Saturday, February 20th.


Iraqi Sunnis Pin Their Hopes on Elections:

French Filmmaker Severin Blanchet Killed in Kabul:

Italian "diplomatic counsellor" killed in Kabul attack:

15 Pak citizens detained at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan: Brit

In Afghanistan, U.S. plans major push into Kandaha:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot dead the imam (prayer leader) and preacher of a mosque in al-Jihad neighborhood, southern Baghad, on Friday, eyewitnesses from the area said. “Unidentified gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire at Sheikh Mahmoud Jassem al-Samarraie, the imam and preacher of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque, killing him instantly,” an eyewitness told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide car bomber attacked a police station Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four people and wounding about two dozen, underscoring the continuing security threat to the country despite army operations against militants. The blast on the police station in Karak in North West Frontier Province also toppled a mosque next door, said Ajmal Khan, a government official. Two police and two civilians were killed, and both police and civilians were among the wounded.

#2: Meanwhile, a commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps said it killed 25 militants near the northwestern district of Darra Adam Khel during a joint operation with police on Thursday and Friday in the area of Spina, after getting a tip that a group of militants was hiding there. One security force member was killed and five others were wounded in the fighting, Commander Safwat Ghayur said.

#3: Also Saturday, at least one person died and several others were wounded when gunmen opened fire on a procession in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, said Dr. Qutbuddin Khan, who works at a local hospital.

#4: Eight people, including three soldiers, were killed in a clash between security forces and Taliban militants in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, authorities said Saturday. 'Afghan forces backed by the NATO-led troops had killed five Taliban rebels and arrested seven others during a cleanup operation launched in Chardara district Thursday and concluded Friday,' provincial governor Mohammad Omar said. He said three Afghan security personnel were killed in the operation while the same number of NATO troopers and an Afghan soldier sustained injuries, according to Xinhua.


MoD: Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate

MoD: Rifleman Martin Kinggett

DoD: Cpl. Daniel T. O’Leary

DoD: Sgt. William C. Spencer

Posted by whisker at 4:07 AM

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