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, July 3, 2010

War News for Saturday, July 03, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, June 2nd.


PKK rebel killed in clash in southeast Turkey

A Royal Marine who died in southern Afghanistan on Thursday was understood to have been a member of the special forces, it has emerged. The marine, who has not been named, is believed to have been a member of the Special Boat Service (SBS) - the naval equivalent of the SAS.

War in Iraq Defies U.S. Timetable for End of Combat


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: Four persons, including two police officers, were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in Baaquba city on Friday, according to a local security source in Diala. “An IED went off amidst a garbage dump near a car park in al-Mohandesin neighborhood, central Baaquba, leaving four men, including two police officers, wounded while they were trying to defuse the charge,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Irbil Prv:
#1: Turkish airplanes have pounded some regions in Arbil, where they destroyed a bridge and caused some material damage, commander of the 43th unit of the Peshmerga forces said on Friday. “Turkish jets bombarded a number of villages in Siedkan district in Arbil, destroying a bridge linking Armoush with Khouwakerk regions and damaging some citizens’ properties,” General Halkord Khedr told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Turkish forces have been shelling some border areas of Iraq under the pretext of attacking outposts of the PKK.


Mosul:
#1: One policeman was wounded when a roadside bomb went off on Saturday in central Mosul city.


Anbar Prv:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot dead Sheikh Abdulalim al-Saadi, the imam and preacher of al-Salam Mosque in al-Ramadi city, according to an Iraqi police source on Friday. “Unknown gunmen opened fire from guns attached with silencers on Sheikh Saadi, the imam and preacher of al-Salam Mosque, in the area of al-Qattana, Ramadi, on Friday evening, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Sheikh Abdelalim is the brother of the Mufti of Iraq Sheikh Abdelmalek al-Saadi.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Three Dutch soldiers were injured after an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the Dutch Ministry of Defense said. The blast happened around 8.30 a.m. local time approximately 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) southwest of Deh Rawod in Orūzgān Province. The ministry said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED). The injured soldiers were in two vehicle when the attack took place.

#2: update A British private security worker was among four people killed in a suicide attack on an aid contractor's offices in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault which left another Briton in a critical condition. A German and two Afghans were also killed when the offices of US consultancy firm Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) in Kunduz, in the north of the country, were targeted yesterday morning. The four, who worked for DAI's security subcontractor Edinburgh International (EI), were hailed as heroes for their attempt to defend the compound.

#3: NATO forces have accidentally killed two civilians, including a woman, and wounded another during an operation against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, the alliance says. Afghan and international forces killed the civilians overnight as they searched compounds for a Taliban commander believed responsible for a string of attacks in the Islamist group's southern spiritual heartland of Kandahar. The joint force accidentally killed the two civilians and wounded a man after a brief exchange of fire at a Kandahar compound, the alliance said in a press statement.

#4: A roadside bomb struck a civilian vehicle in southern Zabul province on Saturday leaving two civilians dead and injuring four others, an official said. "A bomb planted by militants struck a civilian car as a result two persons were killed and four others including a child and three women were injured,"spokesman for provincial administration Mohammad Jan Rasouli told Xinhua.The incident, he added occurred in Shahjoi district in the morning rush hour.

#5: Militants attacked security forces in district Bara of Khyber agency, killing four Frontier Constabulary (FC) soldiers, injured eight other, said sources Saturday. According to sources, four soldiers were killed, eight injured in district Bara of Khyber agency on the spot when the militants targeted security forces’ vehicle by a remote control bomb. Security forces vehicle also destroyed in the attack.

They also said that fifteen militants had been killed on Friday in an ongoing military operation in Khyber Agency. According to sources, security forces also destroyed five vehicles of militants during the operation in the Bara area of the agency . On the other hand, armed militants attacked a security post in Janay Khwar, Matani early on Friday, killing three soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and injuring as many before kidnapping two security personnel and taking away ammunition.

Separately, three mortar shells landed from the tribal area in a brick kiln, injuring two persons, a watchman, Siddiq, and a passerby, Said Mohammad. A tractor was also damaged in the attack. SAMAA


DoD: Cpl. Larry D. Harris Jr.,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I video I made for when Ben came home from Iraq

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48Duk_r_StM&feature=player_embedded

Anonymous said...

Almost daily, press releases are issued that announce the killing or capture of terrorists by the Iraqi security forces, usually noting the involvement of “U.S. advisers.” Sometimes credit is not given when American soldiers kill militants in 3-4 foot body bags.