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


Monday, June 14, 2010

War News for Monday, June 14, 2010

The Danish DM is reporting the death of a Danish ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing in the area around patrol base Budwan, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, June 13th. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, June 12th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, June 12th. News reports this may be a Polish soldier.


Turkish soldier killed, four wounded in clash with PKK rebels:

Iraqi rivals deadlocked as new parliament meets:

2 Pa. National Guardsmen killed in Afghanistan:

Massive lithium deposit found in Afghanistan: It's thought that an estimated $1 trillion's worth of metals -- iron, copper, cobalt, gold and the aforementioned lithium... (Now we will never leave -- whisker)

2 Yemeni soldiers killed in defusing landmine in south:


Reported security incidents

Balad:
#1: Two Sahwa (Awakening) fighters were killed on Monday dawn when a roadside bomb went off targeting a Sahwa checkpoint south of Balad district. “The bomb was planted by unknowns at the Sayyid-Ghareeb area, 5 km south of Balad,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that the blast wounded a third Sahwa fighter.


Kirkuk:
#1: One policeman was wounded when he came under gunmen’s fire in northern Kirkuk city. “The armed men opened fire late on Sunday night targeting a policeman near his house in the al-Iskan neighborhood, northern Kirkuk,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Monday.

#2: One rocket was defused in central Kirkuk city without causing casualties.


Mosul:
#1: One civilian was killed and 27 people wounded when a roadside bomb went off on Monday targeting a police patrol in central Mosul city. “The blast occurred in the al-Baladiya al-Qadeema neighborhood, central Mosul,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that two of the patrol’s personnel are among the injuries.

#2: A sticky bomb was attached to a civilian car went off on Monday in eastern Mosul city, leaving no casualties. “The blast occurred at al-Quds neighborhood, eastern Mosul, when the car was parked near its owner’s house,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Ten Afghan policemen and 21 Taliban fighters were killed in a clash in central Afghanistan after militants attacked a police post, the interior ministry said on Monday. A group of insurgents attacked police in Kejran district of the central province of Daikundi on Sunday, the ministry said. The policemen killed 21 insurgents, it said. "Regrettably, 10 police forces were also martyred and seven others were injured during the attack." The attack in isolated Daikundi, where Taliban violence is rare, happened amid an increase in militancy in southern and eastern regions of the country.

#2: Afghan and NATO-led troops during a joint operation eliminated one insurgent and captured six others in northern Kunduz province, an official said Monday. "The operation involving Afghan and international troops raided a compound of militants on Sunday night outside Kunduz city, the capital of Kunduz province, during which one militant was killed and six others were captured," the official told Xinhua but refused to be identified.


MoD: Lance Corporal Andrew Breeze

DM: Airman Overkonstabel Martin Kristiansen

DM: Cpl. Miosz Hill.

Posted by whisker at 4:14 AM

1 comments:

Cervantes said...

What Thoreau says, including:

"Now, this mineral wealth was discovered in a study conducted by the Pentagon. Rest assured that the Pentagon was NOT doing this as part of any sort of imperial design or to advance any narrow commercial interest. Any insinuation that the armed forces are doing anything other than defending freedom is of course absurd. Pay no attention to America-haters who suggest that the armed forces are sent abroad as part of a racket rather than for the defense of freedom.

For my part, I would be content to leave Afghanistan alone and say that if somebody there somehow finds himself in control of minerals and manages to dig them out of the ground, we are willing to pay cash on delivery. We are NOT, however, willing to do our own pick-up or provide armed escorts for those who do the pick-up or the mining. The terms are cash on delivery."

June 14, 2010 at 9:48 AM

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