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


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

War News for Wednesday, October 13, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 13th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 13th.


Russia refuses route for NATO supplies

Gains in Afghan Training, but Struggles in War

Catonsville soldier died of pulmonary embolism


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One Iraqi soldier was killed Tuesday in a bomb blast in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “A roadside bomb went off Tuesday (Oct. 12) targeting the personal car of an army soldier in al-Jameaa neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two soldiers were wounded when gunmen opened fire on them in western Baghdad on Tuesday, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on an army vehicle patrol in al-Ameriya region, western Baghdad, injuring two soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Five policemen were wounded Wednesday morning in a bomb blast in central Baghdad, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off Wednesday morning (Oct. 13) near al-Watheq square in central Baghdad, targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring five policemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Four persons have been injured in an explosive charge blast in central Baghdad on Wednesday, a Baghdad police source said. “An explosive charge, stuck in a civilian car blew up close to central Baghdad’s Alwiya Telephone Exchange Office, wounding four persons, who were driven to a nearby hospital,” the source added, giving no further details.

#5: An Interior Ministry entourage has come under attack by an explosive charge close to the passport department in central Baghdad, causing no human casualties, according to a Baghdad security source on Wednesday. “An explosive charge blew off against an Interior Ministry entourage close to the Zayouna Passport Department on Wednesday, without causing human casualies,” he said, without giving further details.

A bomb attached to a government car wounded two of its passengers and two passers-by, an interior ministry source said.

#6: Gunmen launched coordinated attacks on three Iraqi army security checkpoints in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad, killing one Iraqi soldier and wounding six others, an interior ministry source said.

#7: At least four explosions rocked western Baghdad on Wednesday. There are no reports about the targets and casualties so far


Diyala Prv:
#1: Ten people were wounded by an improvised explosive device blast in northeast of Baaquba on Wednesday, a police source said. “The bomb exploded on the main road of Sharban district in al-Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba, targeting a bus carrying Iranian visitors,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast wounded ten people, including seven Iranians and 3 Iraqis,” he added.


Missan Prv:
#1: Seven local-made bombs were defused Wednesday in Missan, media director of Missan police said. “Anti-explosives experts of Missan police department defused on Wednesday (Oct. 13) seven local-made bombs planted in several areas of Missan,” Ghassan Adnan Hamoudi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi civilian has been wounded in an armed attack by a group of unknown armed men in central Kirkuk, north Iraq, on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Joint Coordination Centre Spokesman said. “A group of armed men opened fire early today (Wednesday) on a civilian on the Baghdad Highway passing through northern Kirkuk, wounding the civilian, who is an employee in the North Oil Company,” he said, adding that the attackers escaped to an unknown destination.

#2: Meanwhile, a security source said that unknonwn armed men launched a rocket from a district, south of Kirkuk, against the Kirkuk Air base, home for the U.S. forces in the city. He did not give further details, admitting that the “Kirkuk police patrols failed to locate the site where the rocket landed.”


Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded in a thermal bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said on Tuesday. “A thermal bomb exploded targeting an army vehicle patrol in al-Islah al-Zeraie neighborhood, western Mosul, injuring two soldiers, who were carried to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One civilian was killed on Tuesday by mistake during cracking down traffickers on Iraqi-Syrian borders in northwest of Mosul, according to a security source. “The civilian was killed when border guards were tracking down traffickers in al-Rabiaa district, northwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An insurgent commander from the Haqqani network and three other militants were killed in a firefight with NATO and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday. Ansari Khan, a Haqqani leader accused of conducting attacks on coalition forces, died in a clash in Khost province's Spera district in an overnight operation Tuesday, a NATO statement said. As the security force moved in on a compound, two insurgents threw a grenade and opened fire. Retaliatory fire killed four militants, including Khan, it said.

#2: In southern Afghanistan, Ahmed Khan, chief of Dihrawud district in Uruzgan province, was fatally shot by insurgents Tuesday at a market, according to Mohammad Naeem, the district police chief.

#3: In the west, a joint force operation in Herat province killed "several" militants in a raid targeting an unidentified Taliban leader allegedly responsible for a recent ambush that killed two Spanish soldiers, NATO said. The force came under small-arms fire in Obe district and troops responded, killing the insurgents.

#4: Six Filipinos, one Indian national and a Kenyan were killed on Tuesday when a cargo plane crashed outside Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the Afghan army said on Wednesday. The U.S.-based company operating the aircraft, National Air Cargo, said the civilian cargo transport plane was en route from sprawling U.S. Bagram Air Base to Kabul when it hit a mountain 20-30 km (15-20 miles) east of Kabul.

#5: A government official says suspected militants have killed three anti-Taliban tribal elders tasked with protecting their areas from insurgents in northwestern Pakistan. Two elders also were wounded in the overnight shootout in the Bazai area of Mohmand tribal region near Afghanistan. A government administrator Javed Khan said Wednesday that the shootout occurred at a checkpoint set up along a road. The alleged insurgents fired on the tribesmen when they were asked to halt.

#6: Afghan and ISAF troops killed several insurgents in western Herat province in an operation on Tuesday targeting a Taliban leader from neighbouring Badghis province responsible for attacks and kidnapping, ISAF said in a statement. It was not yet clear if the targeted insurgent was among the dead, the statement said.

#7: update: Taliban insurgents fired a rocket into a US helicopter yesterday, killing an Afghan interpreter and wounding eight soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, a key flashpoint in the country’s war. The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took nearly a full day to confirm that an explosion on the aircraft was caused by an insurgent attack, which the Taliban militia had been quick to claim. A correspondent in Kunar province said he saw three helicopters flying over the Ghash area of Marawar district and then heard the sound of rocket fire, after which two helicopters flew off and a gun battle broke out. “Eight people were wounded and one killed after a rocket-propelled-grenade was fired at an International Security Assistance Force helicopter in Kunar province today,” the military said. There were 26 people on board the helicopter, which ISAF identified as a US CH-47 Chinook. The helicopter had just landed at a military outpost and was off-loading through the rear ramp when the RPG was fired into the cargo bay. “The explosion resulted in one Afghan interpreter killed, seven ISAF service members and one Afghan border police member wounded,” the military said. (NATO release)


DoD: Lance Cpl. John T. Sparks

DoD: Sgt. Frank R. Zaehringer III

DoD: Staff Sgt. Dave J. Weigle

DoD: Spc. David A. Hess

6 comments:

Dancewater said...

Justice for Fallujah Project

Dancewater said...

More journalists killed in Iraq than in 2009: IPI

(AFP) – Oct 5, 2010

VIENNA — More journalists have been killed in Iraq so far this year than in all of 2009, press watchdog IPI said Tuesday in a statement.

Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, a cameraman for the al-Hurra satellite channel, was killed Monday when a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to his car detonated in the town of Garma, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital, police in nearby Fallujah said.

"Jawad is the fifth journalist to be killed in Iraq this year, and the third to be killed there in less than a month," the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) said.

Nine other people died in rampant violence in the country on the same day.

In 2009, four journalists were killed in Iraq, against 14 the previous year and 42 in 2007, IPI said.

"Whilst, thankfully, this toll is nowhere near the heights seen during the war, Iraq cannot be allowed to slide backwards," IPI Press Freedom manager Anthony Mills said.

"On the contrary, the authorities must ensure that the killers of journalists are brought to justice. If a culture of impunity is allowed to continue to thrive, it may fuel further journalist killings," he added.

So far this year, Iraq has been fourth on a list of the world's most deadly countries for journalists, after Mexico, Honduras and Pakistan, said IPI.

Between 2003, when US-led troops invaded Iraq, and 2008, 167 journalists were killed, according to an IPI toll.

A total of 273 Iraqis were killed as a result of violence in September, the lowest figure since January, according to government figures released on Friday.

The overall monthly death toll was the lowest in Iraq since January, when 196 people were killed in violence, and represents a 35 percent drop from August, when 436 people died.

The sharp decline in attacks comes after July and August recorded two of the highest monthly tolls since 2008, shortly after a brutal sectarian war across the country left tens of thousands dead.

The United States declared an official end to combat operations on September 1, though American troops can still fire their weapons in self-defence and conduct joint counter-terror operations with their Iraqi counterparts.

LINK

Dancewater said...

More journalists killed in Iraq than in 2009: IPI

(AFP) – Oct 5, 2010

VIENNA — More journalists have been killed in Iraq so far this year than in all of 2009, press watchdog IPI said Tuesday in a statement.

Tahrir Kadhim Jawad, a cameraman for the al-Hurra satellite channel, was killed Monday when a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to his car detonated in the town of Garma, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital, police in nearby Fallujah said.

"Jawad is the fifth journalist to be killed in Iraq this year, and the third to be killed there in less than a month," the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) said.

Nine other people died in rampant violence in the country on the same day.

In 2009, four journalists were killed in Iraq, against 14 the previous year and 42 in 2007, IPI said.

"Whilst, thankfully, this toll is nowhere near the heights seen during the war, Iraq cannot be allowed to slide backwards," IPI Press Freedom manager Anthony Mills said.

"On the contrary, the authorities must ensure that the killers of journalists are brought to justice. If a culture of impunity is allowed to continue to thrive, it may fuel further journalist killings," he added.

So far this year, Iraq has been fourth on a list of the world's most deadly countries for journalists, after Mexico, Honduras and Pakistan, said IPI.

Between 2003, when US-led troops invaded Iraq, and 2008, 167 journalists were killed, according to an IPI toll.

A total of 273 Iraqis were killed as a result of violence in September, the lowest figure since January, according to government figures released on Friday.

The overall monthly death toll was the lowest in Iraq since January, when 196 people were killed in violence, and represents a 35 percent drop from August, when 436 people died.

The sharp decline in attacks comes after July and August recorded two of the highest monthly tolls since 2008, shortly after a brutal sectarian war across the country left tens of thousands dead.

The United States declared an official end to combat operations on September 1, though American troops can still fire their weapons in self-defence and conduct joint counter-terror operations with their Iraqi counterparts.

LINK

Dancewater said...

I don't know how that published twice.

Dancewater said...

Afghan civilian war injuries double in Kandahar conflict

The number of Afghan civilians hospitalised for serious war wounds has doubled in 12 months in Kandahar, the focus of an ongoing US-led campaign against Taliban strongholds.

In August and September, Mirwais regional hospital in the country's second biggest city admitted almost 1,000 new patients with weapons injuries, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The total for the same period of 2009 was 500.

The Red Cross reported a "drastic increase" in the number of amputations from war injuries, reflecting the nature of the violence.

Dancewater said...

Researcher: Suicide terrorism linked to military occupation

Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor and former Air Force lecturer, will present findings on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that argue that the majority of suicide terrorism around the world since 1980 has had a common cause: military occupation.

Pape and his team of researchers draw on data produced by a six-year study of suicide terrorist attacks around the world that was partially funded by the Defense Department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency. They have compiled the terrorism statistics in a publicly available database comprising some 10,000 records on some 2,200 suicide terrorism attacks, dating back to the first suicide terrorism attack of modern times - the 1983 truck bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 241 U.S. Marines.

"We have lots of evidence now that when you put the foreign military presence in, it triggers suicide terrorism campaigns, ... and that when the foreign forces leave, it takes away almost 100 percent of the terrorist campaign," Pape said in an interview last week on his findings.

Pape said there has been a dramatic spike in suicide bombings in Afghanistan since U.S. forces began to expand their presence to the south and east of the country in 2006. While there were a total of 12 suicide attacks from 2001 to 2005 in Afghanistan when the U.S. had a relatively limited troop presence of a few thousand troops mostly in Kabul, since 2006 there have been more than 450 suicide attacks in Afghanistan - and they are growing more lethal, Pape said.

Deaths due to suicide attacks in Afghanistan have gone up by a third in the year since President Barack Obama added 30,000 more U.S. troops. "It is not making it any better," Pape said.