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


Wednesday, June 30, 2010

War News for Wednesday, June 30, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 30th.


Two PKK militants dead in Turkey clashes


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two policemen were killed on Wednesday and another was wounded when unknown gunmen attacked a checkpoint in southern Baghdad. “The gunmen were driving a civilian car when they used guns with silencers to open fire on a police checkpoint at the al-Tayiara Street in Daura neighborhood, southern Baghdad,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#2: One policeman and one civilian were wounded on Wednesday when a roadside bomb went off in southwestern Baghdad. “The blast occurred in the al-Amil neighborhood, southwestern Baghdad,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Gunmen killed an 18-year-old girl in the Zaafaraniya district in southeastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police forces on Wednesday found an unknown corpse of a woman southwestern Kirkuk city, said a local security source.


Mosul:
#1: Five mortar shells hit a court in western Mosul on Tuesday, without causing casualties, according to a security source. “The shells hit the local administration’s court in Bab Senjar region in western Mosul, without causing casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Unknown gunmen killed a man and wounded his brother in southern Mosul, a police source said on Tuesday. “The gunmen opened fire on two brothers on a road in al-Shoura district, southern Mosul, killing one of them and injuring the other,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A woman was killed and two more were wounded by gunmen in western Mosul, a security source said on Tuesday. “Unidentified gunmen attacked a house in al-Zenjili region in western Mosul, killing a woman and injuring two, including a nine-year-old child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A police car transporting a prisoner was struck by a roadside bomb, wounding the prisoner, in western Mosul, police said.

#5: A bomb attached to the car of an off-duty policeman killed him and wounded a passenger in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#6: Gunmen stormed a house in the western part of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, killing a woman and wounded two people, police said.

#7: Gunmen attacked workers paving a road killing one and wounding another near a town south of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One civilian was killed on Wednesday and another wounded when a sticky bomb went off in western Anbar province. “The bomb went off inside a civilian car in central Heet district, 72 km west of Ramadi city,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Militants set off a car bomb and stormed the entrance to an airport in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday in a failed attempt to enter the air field used by Afghan and international forces, authorities said. Eight insurgents died in the ensuing gunbattle. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, part of an upswing in violence in the nearly 9-year-old war. Using light weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, the militants battled international forces for 30 minutes on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, according to information provided by the media office at the airport. An Afghan solider and one international service member were wounded in the fighting, NATO said. "They were not able to breach the perimeter. They were fought off by a combination of Afghan and coalition security forces," German Army Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz, a spokesman for NATO, told reporters at a briefing on Wednesday.

#2: Elsewhere in the east, U.S. and Afghan forces battled hundreds of militants from an al-Qaida-linked group for a third day Tuesday in Kunar province, the U.S. military said. Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in the first day of the operation.

#3: Two rockets were fired by unidentified terrorists at a paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) checkpoint in Sharifabad, suburbs of Quetta. No one was hurt in the incident, official sources said.

#4: Besides, late Tuesday night, at least two paramilitary troops were shot dead in an ambush on their checkpoint in Dasht area of district Mastung of the city, official sources said. Balochistan province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

#5: At least 15 militants were killed and 10 others were wounded when fighter jets attacked militant positions in the Orakzai tribal region's Mamozai and Kath areas. Six militant hideouts were also destroyed in the action, government sources said.


DoD: Sgt. John M. Rogers

DoD: Pfc. Bryant J. Haynes

DoD: Spc. David A. Holmes

DoD: Staff Sgt. Eric B. Shaw

DoD: Spc. David W. Thomas

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

News for iran gaza
Fars News Agency Iran presents 11 proposals to break Gaza blockade ‎ - 1 hour ago

DAMASCUS - Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani has presented eleven proposals to help break the blockade of Gaza at a meeting of the Parliamentary Union of ...
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Connie Francis - Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6VHHCrU1sI&feature=player_embedded

Anonymous said...

Knesset Member Labels Israel's Claim about Easing Gaza Siege as "Big Lie"

TEHRAN (FNA)- Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour, head of the United Arab List and a second-term Knesset member, viewed Israel's claims about relieving the siege of Gaza as a "big lie".





"The Zionist regime's claimed policy for reducing the severity of the Gaza siege is a big lie in pursuit of political and economic goals," Sarsour said in a statement on Wednesday, reiterating that Tel Aviv's alleged policy for making the Gaza siege less stiff and issuing necessary permission for importing commodities to Gaza are all "propaganda".

Israel is mocking at every one and scoffs at the determination, will and opinion of all freedom-seekers in the world through this measure, he said.

"Everybody knows that Israel has made the decision to ease the Gaza siege in a bid to ignore moral and legal principles and cause a failure in the efforts made to break the siege," Sarsour said.

International efforts and demands to beak the Gaza siege increased after Israeli commandos supported by choppers raided a Turkish six-ship flotilla carrying an international convoy of humanitarian aids to Gaza and confiscated the cargos and killed 20 human rights activists on May 31.

The siege of Gaza started in June 2007 when Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. This was supported by the governments of Egypt and the US.

The blockade consists of a land blockade along Gaza's borders with Egypt and Israel and a sea blockade. It immediately followed the 2006-2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority following the election of Hamas to the Palestinian government.

The blockade has attracted criticism from many Human Rights organizations. September 2009 UN fact-finding mission found that the blockade of Gaza "amounted to collective punishment" was likely a war crime and a crime against humanity and recommended that the matter be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Anonymous said...

News for IRAN GAZA
Iran urges united front against Israel ‎ - 3 hours ago

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani has called for member states of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to support the Gaza aid ...
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