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, January 12, 2011

War News for Wednesday, December 12, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 12th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 12th.


Danish soldier killed

Troops caused $100 million damage in Kandahar


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A bicycle bomb was defused on Tuesday by anti-terrorism department in Baghdad. The bicycle bomb was targeting a marketplace in al-Kesra region in Baghdad, according to state-run al-Iraqiya channel.

#2: The Chairman of Iraq’s People’s Court, Judge Rashid Mishary, has been wounded in an assassination attempt close to his south Baghdad residence on Wednesday, a security source said. “An explosive charge blew off close to the residence of the Chief Justice of the People’s Court in Baghdad, Rashid Mishary, in southern Baghdad’s Daura district, causing him injuries,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A roadside bomb in Sadr City, northern Baghdad, damaged a nearby barber shop. No casualties were reported.

#4: Security forces found the body of an unidentified woman with gunshot wounds in Bob Al Sham region.


Taji:
#1: “An explosive charge blew off on Wednesday morning against a civilian car, close to northwest Baghdad’s Taji district, killing its driver and completely destroying the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: He said that another explosive charge blew off close to a foodstuff market on the main highway passing through the area, wounding three persons, completely destroying the market and causing damage to a civilian car.


Mosul:
#1: An Iraqi security officer and an armed man have been killed in a clash between both sides west of north Iraq’s Mosul city, the center of Ninewa Province, a security source said on Wednesday. “A clash between a group of unknown armed men and a police patrol in west Mosul’s Dour al-Hamamil district on Wednesday, had killed a police officer and wounded a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the clash had caused the killing of one of the armed men as well.”

#2: A roadside bomb killed a civilian in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, an Iraqi army source said.

#3: Gunmen killed a civilian after chasing him from house to house in eastern Mosul, an Iraqi army source said. The victim was a former non-commissioned officer in Saddam Hussein's army, the source added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: In Kabul, a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up next to a minibus carrying intelligence service employees to work, killing four people, President Hamid Karzai's office said. The Interior Ministry said the blast wounded 32 people, including six intelligence service members - although it spoke of only two people killed - one intelligence service member and a civilian. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

#2: About an hour later in the troubled eastern province of Kunar, a remote-controlled roadside bomb killed an intelligence service colonel and his driver, and wounded two bodyguards, said Abdul Saboor Allahyar, deputy chief of Kunar's provincial police. The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.

#3: A suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal region killed four alleged militants on Wednesday, intelligence officials told CNN. Two intelligence officials said the suspected drone fired two missiles on a militant hideout in the area of Mir Ali of North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

#3: A bomb killed two Afghan civilians on Tuesday in the Posht-e-Rod district of western Farah province, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

#4: Foreign troops killed "several" insurgents on Tuesday during an operation in Andar district of Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, ISAF said.

#5: ISAF troops killed two insurgents in southern Helmand province on Tuesday, ISAF said. One insurgent was killed in Sangin district and one in Musa Qala district.

#6: At least four people including two women were injured in two blasts that took place almost simultaneously Wednesday afternoon in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar, reported Urdu TV channel Dunya, adding that the reason of the blasts was not known.

0 comments: