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


Monday, November 29, 2010

War News for Monday, November 29, 2010

The DND/CF is reporting the death of Captain Francis (Frank) Cecil Paul who died of natural causes in Canada while on leave from deployment on 10 February 2010.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, November 27th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of six ISAF soldiers from an apparent small arms fire/shooting incident by an Afghan border policeman in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, November 29th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An explosive charge blew up in central Baghdad on Monday, causing material damage to a number of civilian cars, a security source said. “An explosive charge blew up in a street close to Baghdad’s Police Academy in Central Baghdad, causing damage to a number of civilian cars,” the security source added, without giving further details.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An Iraqi Railways employee has been killed and another injured in a land-mine explosion in a railway passing through Karbala area in west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Monday, according to an Anbar police source. “A land-mine has blown up under a train passing through Karbala area in west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Monday, killing an employee and wounding another,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the explosion had caused material damage to one of the train’s carriages.

#2: Three electric power towers have been completely blown up in west Iraq’s Akashat city on Monday, according to an Anbar security source. “A group of armed men have planted a number of explosive charges under three towers, carrying electric power in Akashat area, west of Anbar Province, fully destroying them, but causing no human losses,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Clash between Taliban militants and police in eastern Ghazni province left four militants dead and a police officer injured, Zerawar Zahid the police chief of Ghazni province said Monday. "Police raided Taliban rebels hideout in Godal village of Deyak district late Sunday night killing four insurgents," Zahid told Xinhua. He also admitted that the police chief of Deyak district Faiz Mohammad Toofan sustained injuries in fire exchange.

#2: A roadside bomb rocked Lashkar Gah the capital of the southern Helmand province on Monday wounding at least four persons, all civilians, spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi said. "The bomb planted on a road and was detonated by remote control at 10:45 a.m. local time leaving three teenagers and one adult injured,"Ahmadi told Xinhua.


DoD: Pvt. Devon J. Harris

DND/CF: Captain Francis Cecil Paul

Posted by whisker at 3:15 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)