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


Thursday, August 12, 2010

War News for Thursday, August 12, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on Wednesday, August 11th. The soldier was wounded in a roadside bombing in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 13th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on on Wednesday, August 11th.


Iraq agrees to Iran-Syria gas pipeline plan

Iraq army general warns on US withdrawal

Amid Setbacks, White House Says End of Iraqi Combat Mission Remains on Target

U.S. Military Seeks Slower Pace to Wrap Up Afghan Role


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A rocket landed in Baghdad's southern Doura district, killing one person and wounding three others, an interior ministry source said.

#2: Gunmen killed two policemen in the northern Qahira district of Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.


Amarra:
#1: Army forces found on Wednesday a bike bomb in southern Amara, director of the media department of the 10th division of the Iraqi army said. “A force from the 10th division of the Iraqi army found a motorcycle bomb in al-Wawiya region in Qalaat Saleh, southern Amara,” Colonel Azhar al-Fetlawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Anti-explosives experts managed to defused it, without damage,” he added.


Diwaniya:
#1: Four Katyusha rockets hit U.S. camp ECHO in Diwaniya on Wednesday, according to an army source. “Camp ECHO, 3 km west of Diwaniya, came under four Katyusha rockets, but no information were obtained about casualties or losses,” the source, who declined to have his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Shurqat:
#1: A police officer survived an attempt on his life by a bomb blast on Thursday in al-Shurqat district, a police source said. “A bomb, stuck to the vehicle of Colonel Ali Dakheel, from al-Shurqat police station, went off in al-Sahel al-Aysar region, injuring two of his guards,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two corpses of young men were found in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “Policemen found on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 11) two bodies of young men in al-Tahrir neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tal Afar:
#1: A policeman and his father were wounded in a sticky bomb explosion in northern Talafar on Wednesday, an official police source said. “A bomb, stuck to a civilian vehicle carrying a cop and his father, went off on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 11) in al-Nakhwa street in Hasankouwi region, northern Talafar,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast wounded the two men,” he added, noting they were rushed to the Talafar public hospital for treatment.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A policeman was killed and five others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a patrol just north of Fallujah, security officials said Thursday. The unidentified militants struck outside of the city, some 60 kilometres west of the capital Baghdad, and then fled the scene.

#2: “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a police captain inside his car on the Baghdad-Falluja road, eastern Falluja, killing him instantly and damaging his car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: “A roadside bomb went off near a police vehicle patrol in Jabiel region, eastern Falluja, injuring two policemen and damaging their car,” the source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least 20 insurgents were killed in Afghanistan's southeast in an operation against the Haqqani network, whose leader Washington wants designated a terrorist, the NATO-led alliance said Thursday. Air strikes were called in after Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops found dozens of insurgents in "entrenched fighting positions" in a mountainous area of Dzadran district in Paktia, not far from the Pakistan border, ISAF said in a statement.

#2: An Afghan woman was shot and killed during a firefight between coalition forces and insurgents in the country's south, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Thursday. Afghan and coalition forces came under small-arms fire Wednesday in the Musa Qal' ah district of Helmand province when they fired back at the insurgents, hitting the woman.

#3: A crowd of about 300 villagers yelled "Death to the United States" and blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday as they swore that U.S. forces had killed three innocent villagers, officials said. NATO forces rejected the claim, saying they had killed several suspected insurgents and detained a local Taliban commander in the overnight raid. Thursday's raid happened before dawn in Wardak province's Sayed Abad district, a Taliban-dominated area where Afghan police can only go with very tight security, according to district police Chief Abdul Karim Abed. Elders from Zarin Khil village said American troops stormed into a family's house and shot three brothers — all young men — and then took their father into custody, Abed said. Police are investigating the allegations but could not yet confirm or deny them, he said. NATO called the men "suspected insurgents" and a spokesman, Capt. Ryan Donald, said they drew weapons and pointed them at the coalition troops. "The assault force engaged the threat, killing the men. After securing the compound, the assault force detained one suspected insurgent," NATO said in a statement.


DoD: Pfc. John E. Andrade

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agree on something. That's got be good.