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, June 4, 2010

War News for Friday, June 04, 2010

Two police officers wounded in rocket attack in southeastern Turkey:


War News for Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Baghdad:
#1: Four policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb went off at their vehicle in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: One Sahwa fighter was killed on Friday by a sticky bomb explosion in central Baaquba, according to a security source. “A bomb, stuck to a civilian vehicle, went off on Friday morning (June 4) in al-Jaheza region in central Baaquba, killing a Sahwa fighter,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Amarra:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and two more were wounded when two Katyusha rockets hit the Missan Operations Command in north of Amara, a security source said on Friday. “Late Thursday (June 3), two Katyusha rockets hit the Missan Operations Command at al-Batiera airport, north of Amara, killing two soldiers and wounding two more,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The rockets were launched from Nahawand region, northern Amara,” he added, without giving further details.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Police forces unearthed a mass grave that contained eight decayed bodies west of Baghdad on Thursday, according to a local security source in Abu Ghraib district. “The police discovered a mass grave in the area of al-Annaz, where decomposed bodies of eight killed civilians were found,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “According to descriptions and information available for the security agencies, the dead civilians had been local residents of different areas of Abu Ghraib district,” he added.


Sinjar:
#1: “The final count of casualties from a car bomb blast that targeted some stores selling liquor in Tal Qasab, southern Sinjar, rose to four deaths and 14 wounded,” Dr. Kifah Mohammed Jassem told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Two of the wounded were in a critical condition and were referred to the Duhuk Hospital in the Iraqi Kurdistan region,” he added. “The explosive vehicle attack went off near a liquor store in the predominantly religious minority Yazidi area of Tal Qasab, south of Sinjar district, (120 km) west of Mosul, leaving two, one of them an interpreter for the U.S. forces, killed and 10 others, wounded,” a security source had said.


Mosul:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Thursday arrested two gunmen while attempting to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) south of Mosul, according to a military source. “A force from the Iraqi army’s 2nd Division detained today (June 3) two gunmen in a village near the district of al-Shora, south of Mosul, while emplacing an IED on the main street,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb killed two people and wounded four others in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded two soldiers and an officer in western Mosul, police said.

#4: A car bomb exploded near police headquarters in western Mosul, wounding three civilians, police said



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: militants have fired rockets at NATO's main base in southern Afghanistan leaving several foreign troops wounded. Four rockets were fired at Kandahar Air Field on Thursday, two at around 3:00 pm, one at 8:00 pm and another two hours later, US officials told AFP. This is the second time in the last 13 days the compound has come under attack.

#2: Afghan forces fired five artillery shells across the border into a Pakistani village, damaging two homes but causing no casualties, officials said Friday. The incident took place in the Khyber district in northwest Pakistan that straddles the Nato supply line into Afghanistan and is hotbed of both Taliban fighters and other smaller homegrown militia. The shells exploded Thursday in Pastokai village, about 20 kilometres (13 miles) south of the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan, officials said. “Five artillery shells fired by the Afghan army hit the village,” Shafirullah Khan, the top administrative official of Khyber, told AFP.

#3: Afghan and international forces killed "several" militants overnight during an operation in Sayedabad district of Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, the NATO-led force said in a statement.

#4: Afghan and international troops killed "several suspected insurgents" in an operation over the last two days in Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, the NATO-led force said.

#5: Afghan and international forces killed "several individuals" after coming under insurgent fire during a search operation in Qalat district of southern Zabul province, the NATO-led force said.


MoD: Marine Anthony Dean

Posted by whisker at 4:16 AM

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