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, June 5, 2010

War News for Saturday, June 5, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two British ISAF soldiers from a small arms fire attack in the Nahr-e Saraj District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Friday, June 4th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from small arms fire in an unidentified location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, June 4th. Note this release and this one now appears to be the release for the two British soldiers killed and not separate small-arms fire deaths.


Rifleman killed in mosque blast:

Army plans $100 millon Afghanistan special ops HQ:

15 Afghan Soldiers arrested by Security forces at Pakistan: (I'm not sure about this one)

Tribals to expel Mehsud militants:

Afghan Peace Talks End With Plea to Combatants:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded six civilians in Baghdad's Amil district late on Friday, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb explosion targeted a civilian car in Dali Abbas area, 23 miles east of Baquba. Two civilians were killed in the attack.


Kirkuk:
#1: A combined security force in Kirkuk defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in the northwestern part of the city without incident on Friday, a source from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Kirkuk said.


Mosul:
#1: The Sunni-backed coalition that won the most seats in Iraq's March parliamentary election says gunmen in the northern city of Mosul have killed a third candidate from the party. The Iraqiya party says Faris Jassim al-Jubouri was killed for political reasons. Spokeswoman Maysoun Damlouji describes the attack as one in a string of killings "clearly targeting the Iraqiya list." Al-Jubouri was an unsuccessful candidate for the party led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, and was not expected to take a seat in the new parliament. Police say unknown gunmen shot him early Saturday.

#2: Iraqi army forces arrested on Saturday a gunman while attempting to throw an active grenade on army checkpoint in western Mosul city. “The gunman was arrested before he launched the attack,” an army source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb exploded Saturday outside the provincial governor's office in the Afghan city of Kandahar, killing one policeman and wounding at least 14 civilians, officials said. Kandahar city police Chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai said the explosives were strapped to a bicycle on the street outside the compound where the governor lives and works. The bomb detonated around midday. The governor's spokesman, Zulmai Ayubi, said the 14 wounded included five children. Among the wounded, four were in critical condition, he said.

#2: In the east, NATO aircraft pounded a target in Kunar province, killing nine Taliban militants including three Pakistanis, said provincial police chief Gen. Khalil Ziayi.

#3: And three insurgents were killed and four wounded in a gunbattle with Afghan forces in Ghazni province, farther south, said police chief Gen. Khail Baz Sherzai.

#4: At least 12 militants were killed and many others injured on Saturday during an air strike by Pakistan Air Force in the northwestern tribal region of Pakistan, local media reported. According to reports Pakistani Army used air strike against militants as it marching ahead during the continued operation in Orakzai, a tribal area in the northwest of Pakistan.

#5: Unidentified militants beheaded a 60-year-old Afghan refugee for "spying" for the United States military based in neighboring Afghanistan, in northwest Pakistan's tribal area, local media reported Saturday. The beheaded body, identified as Wadeen, was found in village Darpa Khel, some five kilometers west of Miranshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan tribal area, according to the local newspaper Daily Times. The body was lying on the Datta Khel-Miranshah Road. A paper close to the body alleged that Wadeen was spying for the United States and "anyone doing the same would meet the same fate."

#6: Taliban militants beheaded three men including two Afghans in the Mir Ali area of the tribal North Waziristan district, which borders Afghanistan, accusing them of spying for the United States in February, according to officials.

#7: update Two children were killed and another two injured in a blast along the Pakistani-Afghan border on Friday afternoon, a local source told Xinhua. The blast took place around 4 p.m. local time Friday in South Waziristan, a tribal region in the west of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Locals said the casualties were caused by a mortar fired from the Afghan side


DoD: Pvt. Francisco J. Guardado-Ramirez

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