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


Tuesday, January 4, 2011

War News for Tuesday, December 04, 2011

MNF confirms: - US service members killed supporting OND in central Iraq

Iraq's daily oil production exceeds 2.7M barrels

US senator seeks permanent bases in Afghanistan

Iran Invites Some Nations, Not U.S., for Nuclear Tour


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Unknown gunmen opened fire using muted weapons on a policeman in Al Wasiriya District, northeastern Baghdad. The policeman was killed on the spot.

#2: A bomb stuck to a gate of a residence in Al Shohadaa’ District, western Baghdad, killed an old woman and wounded her son.


Mussayab:
#1: Six mortar shells hit the U.S. base in north of Hilla on Monday, according to a police source from al-Mahaweel police station. “U.S. forces contacted al-Mahaweel police station after six mortar shells hit the U.S. base in al-Musayab region, north of Hilla, and asked the police to investigate the incident,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diwaniya:
#1: A U.S. military vehicle was damaged on Monday by an improvised explosive device in west of Diwaniya, according to a military source. “The bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy in al-Shamiya district, west of Diwaniya, damaging a U.S. vehicle,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Sulaimaniya:
#1: The house of the mother of Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Barham Saleh was subject to fire in central Sulaymaniya. An unknown gunman driving a motorcycle opened fire on the guards boot at the entrance of the house. The incident did not cause any casualties.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb exploded in central Kabul early Tuesday, killing one police officer and wounding three other people, a government official said. The early morning attack in downtown Kabul took place in an area where several government buildings stand, including the finance and defense ministries, said Abdul Saboor, an official with the interior ministry's counterterrorism unit. He said two police officers and a civilian were wounded. The bomb went off as the police officer approached the device to defuse it, Saboor said.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Maung P. Htaik

DoD: Cpl. Jacob A. Tate

Posted by whisker at 2:46 AM

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