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


Tuesday, October 12, 2010

War News for Tuesday, October 12, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an explosion aboard a helicopter which had just landed in Kunar province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 12th. Eight additional soldiers were wounded in the incident.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, October 11th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 12th.


Anguish for families of Iraq's disappeared

Harrison man critically wounded in Afghanistan

Paradise High grad wounded in Afghanistan

Afghanistan: war casualties soar in Kandahar hospital: -- (snip) -- (ICRC), registered almost twice as many new patients with weapon-related injuries in August and September 2010 as during the same months last year – close to 1,000 compared with just over 500 during the same period in 2009.

Italy May Start Afghanistan Withdrawal in 2011, Frattini Tells Repubblica

Footage suggests U.S. killed Briton

Tangled Tale of American Found in Afghanistan

NATO helicopters breach Pakistani airspace again


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five people were killed and two were wounded by gunmen in Baghdad on Monday, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen stormed the al-Warkaa exchange office near al-Said al-Sultan mosque in al-Rashied street, central Baghdad, killing five persons, including three employees, and injuring two more,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency,.

Gunmen attacked a currency exchange bureau in central Baghdad, killing five people, wounding two and robbing it of an unspecified amount of money, an interior ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An armed group attacked a jewelery store in Muqdadiya, northeast of Diala, this was the second attack of its kind in Iraq in less than 24 hours, a police source said Tuesday. “An unknown armed group robbed a jewelery store in the main market in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The group stole 75 million dinars and all jewels in the store,” he added.


Mosul:
#1: An explosive charge went off Monday in front of the house of an official of the Ninewa Electoral Commission in northern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded Monday (Oct. 11) in front of the house of Mohammad Hani, the director of the legal and political blocs department of the Ninewa Electoral Commission, in al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast left no casualties, but caused material damage to the house,” he added.

#2: One civilian was wounded Monday in clashes between gunmen and an Iraqi army force in eastern Mosul, according to a security source. “A passing civilian was wounded Monday afternoon (Oct. 11) in clashes that erupted between gunmen and army forces in al-Zahraa neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Also on Tuesday, a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi police patrol in the border town of al-Qaem, near Syria. Three police officers were wounded, officials said.

#2: An Iraqi police officer is dead and another is injured after a roadside bomb struck a police foot patrol, Falluja police officials said. The incident took place in the town of al-Gharma, about 15 kilometers east of Falluja.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket fired by suspected Taliban militants struck a moving vehicle in Yahyakhel district of the eastern province of Paktika, the Interior Ministry said. 'Six people, including two children, one woman and three men, were martyred in the attack,' it said.

#2: Separately, four civilians were killed and two others were injured when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in Shah Joy district of the southern province of Zabul Monday night, said Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, spokesman for the provincial governor.

#3: Eight Taliban insurgents were killed in an air attack Monday in Afghanistan's western Herat province, police spokesman in the province Noor Khan Nikzad said Tuesday. "The Taliban rebels were in meeting inside a house in Tagab-e- Yari village of Aoba district Monday evening when aircraft targeted their hideout killing eight rebels including their commander Mullah Ghousuding on the spot," Nikzad told Xinhua.

#4: Six Taliban fighters including shadowy district governor were killed in separate operations in western Herat province Monday, a statement released by police department here Tuesday said. In the first operation, according to the statement, carried out in Qosh Asia village of Kushk-e-Rubatsangi district as a result four Taliban insurgents including shadow district governor Mullah Zabihullah were killed. The second operation conducted in Shorab Dahandarzak village of Kushk-e-Kohna district, which left two Taliban militants dead, the statement emphasized.

#5: A police vehicle was destroyed in an ambush Tuesday morning in Hazar Ganji area in the outskirts of provincial capital Quetta in the southwest Balochistan province, local police said. No casualties were reported in the hand grenade attack on the police van, police sources added.

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