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, March 2, 2010

War News for Tuesday, March 02, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, February 2nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an indirect fire attact attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.

NATO is reporting the deaths of Two ISAF soldier in an indirect fire attact attack in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.



Afghanistan bans live coverage of Taliban attacks:

One out of every three killed in US drone attack is a Pak civilian: US think tank

Petraeus: Iraq violence down but threats remain: He said attacks in Iraq have dropped from an average of 220 per day at the height of the violence to less than 20 a day over the last six months. "In December 2006, every 24 hours on average there were 53 dead bodies in the streets of Baghdad," he said. (Note: the U.S. military counted an attack only if it caused a casualty or damaged equipment. Near misses didn't count. -- whisker)


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Monday in a bomb explosion targeting their patrol in eastern Baaquba, a security source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: In Kirkuk, a missile landed on Monday night in a popular neighborhood in central Kirkuk but did not explode, police sources told Alsumaria News.

#2: A police director in Kirkuk has survived an assassination attempt when an explosive device hit his motorcade in southwestern Kirkuk, a local police chief said on Tuesday. “This morning, Col. Hussein Nemat Hawas, the director of the Dabas police station, Kirkuk, escaped an attempt on his life when an explosive device hit his motorcade near al-Rabe Bridge, southern Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The blast caused damage to one of the vehicles and knocked down an electricity pole, but no casualties were reported, the official explained.


Mosul:
#1: One civilian on Tuesday was killed in an armed attack in Mosul City, according to a local security source. “This morning, unknown gunmen driving a vehicle opened fire on a civilian in eastern Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two Iraqi servicemen have been injured in an attack on a voting center in eastern Mosul, a local security source said on Tuesday. “Two Iraqi soldiers assigned to protect an electoral center in Zahrat al-Madaen School, al-Tameem neighborhood (eastern Mosul) were wounded when a gunman threw a hand grenade at the center,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A senior Taliban commander wanted over the 2006 bombing of the US consulate in Karachi has been killed in a suspected American missile strike in north-western Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban has confirmed. Mohammed Qari Zafar's death, which was reported earlier by Pakistani intelligence officials.

#2: The leader of a Chinese separatist movement, believed to have links with al-Qaeda, has been killed in a US missile strike, Pakistani and Taliban officials have said. Abdul Haq al-Turkistani was apparently killed in an American drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan province, close to the border with Afghanistan. He was leader of the Turkistani Islamic Party, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US government. The Chinese foreign ministry said it is aware of al-Turkistani's reported death, but cannot confirm it.

#3: update Unknown miscreants attacked two containers supplying goods to the US-led coalition forces, camping in Afghanistan, with sophisticated weapons in Jamil Chowk here early Monday morning.

#4: Taliban attack in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province wounded four children, police said Tuesday. "The Taliban rebels fired rockets but the weapons hit a residential area outside provincial capital Assadabad last night injuring four innocent children," provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziae told Xinhua.


DoD: Staff Sgt. William S. Ricketts

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