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


Friday, March 5, 2010

War News for Friday, March 05, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, February 5th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, February 4th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an vehicle accident in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, February 4th.


Encouraging Signs in Afghanistan:

In Testimony, Brown Says Iraq War Was ‘Right Decision’

Iraqi Shiites Turn Prayer Meetings Into Election Rallies:

McChrystal bans night raids without Afghan troops:


Reported security incidents

Kirkuk:
#1: Three persons were wounded as a result of a stun bomb explosion that targeted the supporters of the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) bloc in southern Kirkuk on Thursday, according to a senior security official. “A stun bomb went off near a convoy of vehicles of the KA supporters from Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barazani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) near the bridge of Leilan, southern Kirkuk, wounding three civilians,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the chief of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion also caused damage to one of the vehicles in the convoy,” he said.


Mosul:
#1: Unidentified gunmen attacked a second voting center in Mosul city on Thursday, leaving one soldier wounded, a security source in Ninewa said. “The gunmen’s attack took place near a bus terminal in eastern Mosul, leaving one soldier wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two policemen were wounded on Friday in a roadside bomb blast in northern Falluja, a police source said. “The bomb, planted on a road in central al-Saqlawiya district, northern Falluja, went off targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring two cops and damaging the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber targeted Shiite Muslims on two buses being escorted by security forces through a northwestern Pakistan border area rife with sectarian and insurgent violence, killing 12 people Friday. Friday's attack only targeted the buses carrying Shiites, police official Akram Ullah said. Security forces escorting them weren't harmed. The victims were passing through a gas station in the town of Hangu when the lone attacker on foot set off the bomb, Ullah said. Five people were killed at the scene and seven others died at hospitals, he said.


DoD: Sgt. Vincent L.C. Owens

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