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, January 28, 2011

War News for Friday, January 28, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Tech. Sgt. Leslie D. Williams died from a non-combat related incident at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Tuesday, January 25th.


No hydropower from Iraq's Mosul dam: official

New Pipeline to transfer Iran's gas to Iraq, Syria

US official in Pakistan to face murder charge


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi security forces cracked down on traffic in Baghdad neighborhoods Friday, stopping even vehicles carrying bodies of some of the 51 people killed by a car bomb the day before at a Shiite Muslim funeral. Shrapnel was still scattered across the streets in northwestern Baghdad where a near-riot broke out after the afternoon explosion Thursday when infuriated Iraqis pelted security forces with sticks and stones for failing to stop the deadly strike. Police and officials at three Baghdad hospitals said 123 people also were wounded by the booby-trapped car that was parked near a funeral tent. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to release the information.

#2: Unknown gunmen shot and killed an employee on Wednesday in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “The armed men opened fire using guns with silencers on an employee of the housing ministry while driving his car with his wife on al-Ghazaliya bridge, western Baghdad, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The wife was seriously wounded and war taken to a nearby hospital in a serious condition,” he added, without giving further details.

#3: (update) The director of the foreign minister’s office was killed in Baghdad on Wednesday, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on Abduljabbar Abdullah Mukhtar, director of foreign minister’s office, while driving his car in al-Khadimiya region in Baghdad, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Unknown gunmen killed an employee of the foreign ministry in western Baghdad on Wednesday, according to a security source. “An employee working for the foreign ministry was killed today by gunmen used silencer guns between al-Nussour square and 14 Ramadan street, western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. This is the second incident of its kind in Baghdad today as the director of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari’s office was killed in al-Kadhimiya region, northern Baghdad.

#5: At least five persons, among them three policemen, have been injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad on Thursday morning, and one of the civilians have died, according to a security source. An explosive charge blew off on southern Baghdad's Rashid Camp road, targeting an Iraqi Federal Police patrol, wounding three of its men and two civilians, one of whom has died, along with damaging a patrol vehicle and a number of civilian cars, whilst the wounded were driven to a nearby hospital, the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: An Iraqi civilian has been killed and four others injured in an attack on a Finance Ministry motorcade in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, a security source said. "An explosive charge blew off on Thursday against a Finance Ministry motorcade in east Baghdad's Palestine Street, killing a civilian and wounding four others who happened to be close to the venue of the blast," the security source said, adding that the motorcade did not suffer any losses.

#7: One person was killed and seven others were wounded in a blast in southern Baghdad, according to a security source. "An improvised explosive device went off near al-Mashan compound, southern Baghdad, killing one civilian and injuring seven others, including three policemen," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The blast was targeting a police vehicle patrol," he added.

#8: One civilian was killed and four more were injured in an explosion in eastern Baghdad, a security source said on Thursday. "The bomb exploded this morning targeting a motorcade belongs to the finance ministry in eastern Baghdad, killing a passing civilian and wounding four," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#9: A civilian was killed and three were wounded in an explosion in central Baghdad on Thursday, the third of its kind today in the capital, a security source said. "A roadside bomb went off near the old headquarters of the defense ministry in Bab al-Muaatham region, central Baghdad," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The explosion killed one man and injured three and damaged a number of vehicles and stores," the source added.

#10: Two civilians were killed and seven more were wounded in a sticky bomb explosion in western Baghdad, according to a security source. "A bomb, attached to a small bus, went off near the market of al-Jihad neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing two and injuring seven," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#11: Five, including three federal police personnel, were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near their patrol in southern Baghdad on Thursday, a local security source said. “An IED went off near a federal police patrol, on al-Rasheed camp road, southern Baghdad, leaving three patrolmen and two civilians wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen killed a civilian on Wednesday in western Mosul, according to a security source. "Unidentified gunmen killed the man in al-Islah al-Zeraaie neighborhood, western Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The victim was a prisoner at the Bucca detention center and was released two years ago," he added.

#2: One civilian was killed and another one was wounded in a mortar shell attack in southwestern Mosul, according to a security source. “A mortar shell hit a house in al-Maamon neighborhood, southwestern Mosul, killing a civilian and injuring another one, from the same family,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the wounded was carried to a nearby hospital for treatment, while the body was sent to the morgue in Mosul.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Police and eyewitnesses say at least six people were killed in an explosion that rocked a grocery store frequented by foreigners in Kabul. Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, chief of counterterrorism at the Ministry of Interior, says both Afghans and foreigners are among the dead in Friday's blast.

An attack by a suicide bomber on a busy Kabul supermarket close to the British embassy has killed eight people and wounded six, including up to three foreigners. Afghan security officials were still removing bodies from the upmarket Finest supermarket in the Afghanistan capital's diplomatic neighborhood as distraught relatives waited for news. Kabul's police chief, Mohammad Ayub Salangi, confirmed claims by witnesses that today's attack was carried out by a single suicide bomber.

Three foreigners and a child were among the dead, Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi told reporters at the scene.

#2: Two gas pipelines and two oil tankers were blown up in Balochistan on Friday. Unidentified persons attacked the gas pipelines in the the Loti and Bograh colony areas of Sui. As a result, gas supply to the Sui plant was suspended. Repair work was immediately started by a team of engineers from the plant. The two oil tankers were torched at the Bolan Highway.

#3: Three persons, including two Afghan soldiers, were killed and four others injured in Khost province, 150 km southeast of capital Kabul, on Thursday, an army officer Ghulam Farooq Tarakhil said Friday. "A group of Afghan soldiers were on routine patrol in Tanai district on Thursday evening when a mine planted by militants struck their vehicle, leaving three persons, including two soldiers and one civilian, dead," Tarakhil told Xinhua. Four more people including a woman and three Afghan soldiers sustained injuries, he added.


MoD: Private Martin Bell

DoD: Tech. Sgt. Leslie D. Williams

6 comments:

Dancewater said...

STEP ONE: US government sells F-16s to Iraq, along with the bombs, of course! There is money to be made! Of course, the real source of the money is US TAXPAYERS! Gotta love that foreign "aid" stuff.

STEP TWO: Iraqi government uses the F-16s and bombs to quell disturbances in the north, south, east or west in their own country. They massacre thousands. The US government provides "intelligence" to stifle any Iraqi protests.... that is, bombing targets for the Iraqi pilots.

STEP THREE: The US government does every thing it can to stop the UN or international community from punishing Iraqi politicians for the massacre with the F-16s and bombs sold to Iraq by the USA. US politicians and US media ignore the human rights activists that protest. Iraqi gets away with it.

STEP FOUR: Sooner or later,Iraq forgets it's puppet status and does something to anger the US government. That's when the US government decides that something has to be done, because Iraq KILLED THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

STEP FIVE: After severe sanctions that kill hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and makes Iraq very weak, the US government sends the US military into Iraq to occupy and further destroy the country, and of course, install a proper puppet government and call it 'democracy'

STEP SIX: After several years, we go back to STEP ONE!!

*******

Of course, this time around (unlike in the 1980's) the US people are not the ones building the weapons or planes, since production is shipped to other countries where labor is cheaper and environmental laws are absent. But they still pick up the tab!

Dancewater said...

Afghan officials want prolong detentions

Afghan justice and security officials want to adopt the U.S. practice of detaining suspected insurgents indefinitely without trial, according to senior U.S. and Afghan officials involved in efforts to have the government in Kabul take control of detention operations in the country.

*****

how cute! they want to imitate our human rights abuses!


Democracy is on the march, and the F-16 is a homicide bomber!

Dancewater said...

Germany sets beginning of troop withdrawal

Dancewater said...

Egypt uses tear gas that was made in the USA


**********
anything for a profit, no matter what it is or what immoral use is made of it.

At least the US taxpayers got some jobs (making tear gas) out of giving these to the dictator in Egypt. I am sure Egypt bought them with the foreign "aid" that the US taxpayers provided.

I wonder why they don't like us? It is so confusing to figure out.....

Dancewater said...

And they come from our buddies in Saudi Arabia:



Secret report reveals new funding channels for Taliban, al Qaeda

Dancewater said...

We do torture:



Afghan ex-detainee tells court of US custody nightmare


A former Afghan detainee testified to a Danish court Wednesday about his ordeal at the hands of US troops after Danish soldiers handed him over in 2002, describing it as a "nightmare."

"I blame Denmark a lot because it is responsible for the suffering that I went through during my four days of detention. It was a nightmare I can't forget," Ghousouallah Tarin testified in court on the second day of the case.
Former Afghan detainee Ghousouallah Tarin and his lawyer Tyge Trier
Former Afghan detainee Ghousouallah Tarin (R) and his lawyer Tyge Trier.

"I would have preferred to die than to live what I experienced," he added.