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, November 24, 2010

War News for Wednesday, November 24, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, November 24nd.


NATO choppers violate Pak airspace again


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Police officials said on Wednesday that the deadliest attack came late Tuesday when a surgeon and an engineer at Baghdad International Airport were gunned down in a mostly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad. A worker at Yarmouk hospital confirmed the killings.

A surgeon and an airline company’s employee were killed Tuesday by armed men in Baghdad, according to a security source. “Unidentified gunmen killed Dr. Wesam Ali Karim and an airline company’s employee, who was accompanying him, in al-Adl neighborhood, western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Unknown gunmen killed an official of the higher education ministry in northeastern Baghdad, a security source said on Tuesday. “The gunmen shot and killed Dr. Muthfer Mohammad, an official of the higher education ministry’s cultural relations department, inside his house in al-Suliekh neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: In Baghdad, two civilians were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in al-Tobchi neighborhood, in northern the capital, an Interior Ministry source said.


Suwiera:
#1: One civilian and his wife were killed Tuesday by an improvised explosive device in northern Wassit, according to a security source. “The bomb went off in a residential area in al-Suwiera district, north of Kut, killing a man and his wife instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kut:
#1: A bullet-riddled corpse of an Iraqi policeman has been found by police forces in southern Iraq’s Kut city on Wednesday morning, a Wassit police source said. “Police forces have found a bullet-riddled corpse of a Wassit policeman on the banks of the Tigris River this morning (Wednesday),” the police source said.


Basra:
#1: Nine Katyusha rockets were seized on Tuesday in northern Basra, a police source said.
“Policemen seized today nine Katyusha rockets in al-Karma region, northern Basra,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Gunmen fired two rockets from the same place without causing damage. The forces rushed to the area and found the nine rockets,” he explained, noting that the nine rockets have been destroyed.


Shurqat:
#1: In the most deadly attack, a roadside bomb killed four people Wednesday in the town of Shurqat, 155 miles (250 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad. Three of the dead were members of the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni militia that has been instrumental in lessening al-Qaida's deadly role in Iraq. Members of the group are often targeted by al-Qaida out of revenge and to intimidate others from joining the group. A Shurqat police official said that first, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in Shurqat. The town is north of Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit. No one was killed in that bombing but as people gathered nearby to assess the damage, another roadside blast exploded just five minutes later and killed the three Sunni militia members and one bystander. Ten civilians were also wounded by the second blast.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police also said a passer-by was slain in a drive-by shooting in the northeastern city of Kirkuk.


Mosul:
#1: A military force killed two gunmen, who threw a thermal bomb on it in western Mosul, according to an army source. “Army soldiers killed two gunmen, who threw a hand grenade on a military checkpoint in al-Maash market in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the explosion wounded a soldier, who was carried to a nearby hospital for treatment.

#2: An Iraqi building worker has been killed by armed men east of northern Iraq’s city of Mosul, a Ninewa security source said on Wednesday. “A group of armed men opened fire on Wednesday morning on a building worker, close to his house in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, killing him instantly,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Two children have been injured in an explosive charge blast close to a military checkpoint in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, an Iraqi Army source said. “An explosive charge blew up close to an Iraqi Army checkpoint in Somer district east of Mosul, wounding two children,” the source added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An Iraqi civilian has been killed in an explosive charge blast east of Falluja, the largest city in Western Iraq’s Anbar province on Wednesday, an Anbar security source said. “An explosive charge, attached to a car parked close to a shop in east Falluja’s Garma village, blew up early today (Wednesday), killing the shop-keeper and causing damage to nearby shops,” he said, without giving further details.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Intelligence officials say one Pakistani soldier was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb exploded during a foot patrol in northwestern Pakistan. The officials say the incident occurred Wednesday in the Tiarza area of South Waziristan, part of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region where the army launched a massive ground offensive about a year ago.

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