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 22, 2010

War News for Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from a roadside bombing in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, December 21st. Here's the ISAF release.


Iraq achieves oil production of 2.5 million b/d: minister

Maliki's governing style raises questions about future of Iraq's fragile democracy

Extended exposure to Fox News makes voters stupid, university study finds


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two policemen and a civilian were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Baghdad, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off on Tuesday targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Tahrir square, central Baghdad, injuring two policemen and a passing civilian and damaging the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An employee of the Shiite endowment divan was wounded on Tuesday by gunmen in northern Baghdad, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on the employee, Ali Abbas Ali, while driving his car in Malek al-Ashtar square in al-Khadimiya region, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The attack seriously wounded the victim, who was sent to the al-Khadimiya hospital for treatment,” he added, without giving further details.

#3: “A group of armed men have launched a machinegun attack on a group of soldiers, among Central Baghdad’s Muthanna Airport’s guards, who have been carrying their duty, killing one of them and wounding three others, and the wounded ones were driven to a hospital for treatment,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: The security source also said that a group of unknown armed men have assassinated an employee working for the Iraqi Health Ministry’s Commission for Medical Specializations, close to his house in south Baghdad’s Abu-Dushir district on Wednesday.

#5: A bomb attached to the car of a senior official at the Ministry of Health wounded him seriously in the Doura district of southern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Kut:
#1: The Forensic medicine department in Wassit received on Tuesday a bullet-riddled body in north of Kut, a medical source said. “Al-Zahraa hospital’s morgue received on Tuesday (Dec. 21) the body of a young man in al-Dabouni district, north of Kut,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The corpse bore signs of gunshot wounds to the head and chest,” he added.


Shurqat:
#1: Two army soldiers were wounded on Tuesday by a car bomb explosion in north of Tikrit, according to a security source.”A car, crammed with explosives, went off in al-Sahel al-Ayman region in al-Shurqat district, north of Tikrit, targeting an army vehicle patrol, injuring two soldiers seriously and setting the vehicle ablaze.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A provincial governor in Afghanistan said Wednesday that a battle between NATO and the Taliban the previous day had killed three women and two children, and called on the coalition to "pay attention" to civilian casualties. In Helmand, a Taliban stronghold and scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the war, the provincial governor's office said the five civilians died Tuesday as militants attacked coalition forces in the Sangin district. Seven insurgents were killed in the battle, according to the statement from the governor's office.

#2: Two pilots were killed as an army trainer plane crashed in the hill area of southwest Pakistan' s Balochistan province on Wednesday, local TV channels reported.


DoD: Pfc. Conrado D. Javier Jr.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Americans are more stupid then the Nazis.