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, July 9, 2010

War News for Friday, July 09, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF Marine in an IED attack in the Sangin district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, July 9th.

The DoD is reporting what appears to be a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Andrew J. Creighton died in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan, presumably in a military hospital on Sunday, July 4th from injuries sustained during combat operations in Oruzgan province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 1st.

The DoD is reporting another new death previously unreported by the military. Pfc. Jacob A. Dennis died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Saturday, July 3rd. He was wounded from a weapons system accident at Forward Operating Base Lane, Zabul province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 30th.


Soldier from 5th Regiment Royal Artillery killed in Afghanistan (Note: this is the southern Afghanistan death as reported yesterday.


America's Painful Disengagement from Iraq

Petraeus reviews directive meant to limit Afghan civilian deaths

Four policemen wounded in PKK attack in east Turkey


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army check point in western Baghdad, killing six people and injuring 20 on Friday morning, officials said. Police and hospital officials said three Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were killed in the early morning attack that occurred when the bomber detonated a car bomb in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah. Officials said 20 people were also wounded in the blast and taken to Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

A suicide car bomber killed five people, including three Iraqi army officers, and wounded 18 on Friday in Baghdad, police said. Out of the 18 wounded, at least two were army personnel, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed at least 56 people, including women and children, in an attack in a volatile Pashtun region on the Afghan border on Friday, officials said. The bomber blew himself up as hundreds of people were gathered around the office of a senior government official in Pakistan's northwestern Mohmand region, where security forces have stepped up attacks on Taliban militants in recent weeks. Hospital officials said nearly 80 people were wounded, while government officials put the number at about 50.

A suicide bomber targeted a group of tribal elders gathered near the headquarters of the civilian government in Mohmand on Friday, killing more than 50 people and wounding about 100, a senior Pakistani security official said.

#2: Eleven more militants have been killed, including a key Taliban commander, whereas scores others sustained injuries, when security forces pounded terrorists’ hideouts located in Orakzai Agency on Friday morning, Geo news reported. Meanwhile, six sanctuaries were also completely shattered during clashes, official sources claimed. According to sources, security force launched attack on hideouts of militants, backed by gunship helicopters, pounding a total of six sanctuaries and resulting in killing of 11 more insurgents and injuring many others.


DoD: Sgt. Andrew J. Creighton

DoD: Pfc. Jacob A. Dennis

DoD: Spc. Keenan A. Cooper

DoD: Spc. Jerod H. Osborne

Posted by whisker at 3:02 AM

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Iraqis dont believe in saviours any more.

As the American withdrawal gains speed, there are fewer American troops in Iraq then in Afghanistan for the first time since 2003.

By the end of next month, there will be no US combat troops left in Iraq, though some tens of thousands of support troops will remain until next year.

And still there is no new Iraqi government, although it is now 4 months since the election on March 7.

July 10, 2010 at 12:47 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)