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, December 8, 2010

War News for Wednesday, December 08, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, December 8th.


New Taliban video shows captive U.S. soldier


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Seven Iranian pilgrims were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their bus in southern Baghdad on Wednesday at the start of an important Shiite religious event, Iraqi officials said. Wednesday's bomb detonated early in the morning as the bus was passing through the Sunni neighbourhood of Dora, en route to the shrine of a revered Shiite saint in Kazimiyah, police and hospital officials said.

#2: “Unknown gunmen planted three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in front of a house belonging to a police colonel in northern Baghdad’s Mushahda area. The IEDs blew up late on Tuesday night, killing one of his daughters and injuring three members of his family, along with causing damage to his house and car,” the security source said.

#3: Another IED blew up in a police car in northwestern Baghdad’s Sab’a al-Bour area, wounding two civilians, the source noted.

#4: West Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone had become target for a rocket attack on Tuesday, according to an Iraqi security source on Wednesday. “Two rockets, fired from east Baghdad’s Mashtal Area, fell on the Green Zone on Tuesday night. Human and material losses are not yet known,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Numaniya:
#1: A U.S. soldier, working with the American Reconstruction Team in southern Iraq’s Wassit Province, has been injured by sniper fire north of Kut, a Wassit official said. “An unknown sniper opened fire on Wednesday noon against a soldier working for the American Reconstruction Team, who had been carrying out his duty over the building of the Municipal Council of Nu’maniya township, 40 km to the north of Kut,” he added.


Taji:
#1: A civilian was killed and 17 others were wounded in a car bomb explosion targeted an Iraqi army patrol in north of Baghdad on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said. The blast occurred at the entrance of a village in Taji area, just north of Baghdad, when a booby-trapped car explosion apparently missed a passing army patrol, hitting civilians at the scene instead, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Tarmaya:
#1: Gunmen opened fire on the home of a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi interior ministry on Tuesday, killing his daughter and wounding two other family members, in the mainly Sunni area of Tarmiya, 25 km (15 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Policemen arrested on Tuesday a gunman who was planning to attack a police patrol in a crowded region, central Mosul, a police source. “A force from the emergency police department, arrested on Tuesday (Dec. 7) a gunman who was planning to attack a police patrol in a crowded area in al-Najafi street, central Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tal Afar:
#1: Two civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb explosion in Talafar, northwest of Mosul, on Tuesday, an official police source said. “A roadside bomb exploded on Tuesday (Dec. 7) in al-Salam neighborhood, northern Talafar, northwest of Mosul, injuring two civilians, who were carried to Talafar public hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber blew up a bus in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 15 people. The blast took place close to the border regions with Afghanistan, the stronghold of Islamist militants threatening the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan. The bomber destroyed a small passenger bus at a station in a market area of Kohat city, photographs taken by the Associated Press showed. Many of the victims were onboard the vehicle. It was unclear whether the attacker was inside the bus.

#2: Afghanistan's Defence Ministry on Wednesday condemned an air strike by foreign forces which it said killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded five more south of Kabul. The latest incident took place on Tuesday afternoon in the village of Bangram in the Charkh district of Logar province, the ministry said in a statement.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Jason A. Reeves

DoD: Sgt. Nicholas J. Aleman

DoD: Cpl. Derek A. Wyatt

DoD: Pfc. Colton W. Rusk

Posted by whisker at 3:15 AM

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