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


Friday, December 10, 2010

War News for Friday, December 10, 2010

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a United States Forces – Iraq soldier while conducting operations in an undisclosed location in southern Iraq on Thursday, December 8th. News reports that a soldier died from small arms fire/gunshot wounds in al-Nuaamaniya, Wassit province.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Police and hospital officials say a roadside bomb struck a civilian bus in the southern part of Baghdad on Friday morning, killing two people and wounding seven.

#2: In a southwestern Baghdad neighborhood, two other officers were wounded when a roadside bomb hit a police patrol.

“An explosive charge went off on Friday morning (Dec. 10) in al-Aalam region, western Baghdad, targeting a police vehicle patrol, killing a policeman and injuring two more,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Another bomb exploded inside a popular restaurant in southern Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding five others.


Tikrit:
#1: Police and hospital officials say two policemen died in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit when gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a checkpoint early Friday. Two policemen were wounded in the attack.

A policeman was killed and four others were wounded in an armed attack on a police checkpoint in west of Tikrit, a security source said on Friday. “Unknown gunmen attacked early Friday (Dec. 10) a police checkpoint in al-Bu Ebeid village, west of Tikrit, killing a policeman and injuring four more,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Sulaimaniya:
#1: Two policemen and a civilian were wounded Thursday during a demonstration in the city of Sulaimaniya, according to a medical source.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghanistan's Interior Ministry says a suicide attack in the country's volatile east has killed two civilians. The ministry says the attacker blew himself up inside his car on Friday in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Michael E. Geary

Posted by whisker at 3:07 AM

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