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, September 4, 2010

War News for Saturday, September 04, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, September 3rd.


British guns used against Nato forces in Afghanistan

Floods delaying military operation in N Waziristan: Gates

Turkish, US military chiefs meet amid debates on Iraq pullout demand

Defense Secretary Offers Cautious Views on Wars

U.S. to temper stance on Afghan corruption


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three persons were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in western Baghdad city on Saturday, according to a local security source. “Three, including two policemen, were wounded when a roadside IED went off near a police patrol, close to the Ali Walie Allah Mosque in al-Jihad neighborhood, southwestern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tarimiya:
#1: “An IED went off near a joint checkpoint of Iraqi policemen and pro-government sahwa fighters in al-Tarimiya area, northern Baghdad, leaving one policeman, two sahwa fighter and four civilians near the blast site wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion also left two vehicles destroyed and caused other material losses,” he added.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Another well-placed source said two Iraqi army soldiers were wounded in an IED blast that targeted an Iraqi army patrol near Sheikh Dari mosque in the area of Abu Ghraib, western Baghdad. “The attack left damage to a number of patrol vehicles,” he said, not giving more details about the nature of the two soldiers’ injuries.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) that targeted a patrol stationed near a mosque in southwestern Mosul city on Friday, a local police source said. “An IED blast targeted a police patrol near a mosque in al-Ma’moun neighborhood, southwestern Mosul, coinciding with the Friday congregational prayers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two Iraqi army personnel were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in western Mosul city on Friday, a local security source in Ninewa said. “An IED blast went off near an Iraqi army patrol in al-Islah al-Zirai’e neighborhood, western Mosul, leaving an officer in the rank of captain and a solider wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A roadside bomb wounded an Iraqi soldier in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber perched on the back of a motorcycle killed five Afghan policemen and one civilian in the increasingly violent northern province of Kunduz on Saturday. Five other people were injured in the midday attack in the provincial capital, also called Kunduz, provincial police chief Abdul-Razaq Yaqoubi said.

#2: Also Saturday, NATO announced the capture of a Taliban commander and the killing of six insurgents in a raid on a rebel hide-out in the northern province of Takhar. NATO said a joint Afghan-NATO force was fired on as it approached a compound Friday where the Taliban commander was hiding. The force returned fire with the backing of coalition aircraft, then evacuated the compound and detained the commander and one of his assistants, it said.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Joshua T. Twigg

DoD: Staff Sgt. Vinson B. Adkinson III

DoD: Sgt. Raymond C. Alcaraz

DoD: Pfc. Matthew E. George

DoD: Pfc. James A. Page

2 comments:

Dancewater said...

hey, I see the Brits are following the American plan of arming the enemy.

I guess it makes it all more "sporting" to have the other side shooting back with the newest weapons.

Anonymous said...

lol