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, February 18, 2011

War News for Friday, February 18, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, February 17th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, February 18th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an apparent ANA insurgent attack attack in the Pul-e Khumri district, Baghlan province, Afghanistan on Friday, February 18th. News reports that an Afghan army soldier opened fire on a vehicle killing a German soldier and wounding eight others.


Sources: One German soldier killed, nine wounded in Afghan violence

Baghdad wants US to pay $1bn for damage to city

National Guard (In Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of February 15, 2011 - the total National Guard and Reserve personnel who have been activated to 89,724, including both units and individual augmentees.


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: The death toll from a suicide bombing in Iraq's eastern Diyala province on Thursday has risen to eight, while 30 others were wounded, a provincial police source told Xinhua. "The latest report showed that eight people were killed and 30 others were wounded in the blast, while eight nearby cars were totally destroyed," the source from Diyala's operations command said on condition of anonymity. The attack occurred when a suicide bomber drove his explosive- laden car into a police checkpoint near the town of al-Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, he said.


Karbala:
#1: Two gunmen opened fire in a drive by shooting on Thursday night on the Imam of a mosque that belongs to Al Sadr Front, a police source in Karbala told Alsumaria News. Sheikh Jasem Al Mutairi in Ain Al Temer District, western Karbala, was targeted as he was getting out from the mosque after night prayer. He was killed on the spot.


Sulaimaniya:
#1: Kurdish security guards opened fire Thursday on a crowd of protesters calling for political reforms in northern Iraq, killing at least two people, officials said, showing even war-weary Iraq cannot escape the unrest roiling the Middle East. The demonstration in Sulaimaniyah. A local police official and a hospital official said two people were killed, and the medical official said 47 people were injured. Both said the deaths and injuries were the result of shootings. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A massive car bomb blew up Friday on the outskirts of a city in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens. The thunderous explosion rocked the edge of Khost city, the capital of the eastern province of the same name, which is the site of a large American-run military base known as Camp Salerno. Khost's provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Hakim Isahaqzai, said authorities had been tipped off about a planned bombing, and hunted fruitlessly all night for the would-be attacker. At about 9 a.m., a suspicious-looking SUV-type vehicle blew past a police checkpoint about half a mile from the city center. When police fired what were described as warning shots, the driver detonated his explosives. Two police officers at the checkpoint were among the eight dead.

#2: At least one person was killed and four others injured early Friday morning in a car bomb explosion near a police station in northwestern Pakistan, police said. The driver tried to ram the explosive-laden car into the police building in Bannu city, but it went off before reaching the target, according to the police.

#3: A policeman and a civilian were killed on Thursday as a roadside bomb struck a police van in Kunduz province, 250 km north of the Afghan capital Kabul, police said. "The gruesome incident happened in Chardara district at 3:30 p. m. local time as a result one policeman was killed and another sustained injuries," deputy to provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Haqtash told Xinhua. One passerby was also killed in the blast, he added.


DoD: Spc. Lashawn D. Evans

10 comments:

The Wiz said...

Interesting story about Mr Sharp. He seems to have done some good work. It would be interesting to study his tactics and see how they are playing out.

I would love to see democracy spread peacefully throughout the ME and the world. Would make the world a more peaceful and more prosperous place.

I particularly liked where he said he has "outgrown pacifism" A few here have a ways to go yet.

I never said that Bush started the push to democracy but there is no doubt that Bush helped to accelerate the process. Look at all the blogs from the ME and read their comments and you will see a great debate on the issue. They debated the odds of Iraq succeeding, would it spread as Bush said it might, how soon would it come to their country of origin, and more.

And it is not just coincidental that most of these blogs started in 04 or 05 Wonder what inspired them? Where did they get the courage to go public?

Deny it all you want. It will be interesting to hear what historians have to say 20 yrs from now.

Dancewater said...

you are reading astro-turf blogs, not real blogs from regular people.

Dancewater said...

and, you are misinterpreting Sharp's statement about "outgrowing pacifism" too, which is to be expected I guess, since the NYT did too.

Cervantes said...

Juan Cole:

"What I can’t understand is, if the American Right Wing were correct that George W. Bush was ‘right’ in trying to kick start democracy in the Middle East by invading and occupying it, then why would it be necessary for people to demonstrate and burn government buildings in… Iraq? And why have 5 people been shot down for demonstrating in two days in Iraq, as many as in the repressive monarchy of Bahrain?"

The Wiz said...

Mr Cole is seriously lacking in logic. Democracy is new to Iraq, they have a ways to go yet. Democracy allows for people to speak freely and to demonstrate but it doesn't allow them to burn down buildings. That is a crime and must be stopped. Doing stupid things like burning down buildings will get ya shot.

Look at the looney tunes in Wisconsin. They took over the capital building illegally. They should be outside demonstration peaceably. They shouldn't be shot but they could arrested.

Funny, the Tea Party had more than enough people to shut down Congress and stop the health bill from being rammed through but they were too civil to do so. Yet they are criticized and the left lionized.

Black Friday said...

The Wiz....You are instant vomit!!!!

Dancewater said...

he is quite dumb....

Dancewater said...

the tea baggers never had enough to shut down Congress - a year ago, I went to DC for the protest against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. There were about 10-12,000 of us. The same day, the tea baggers were in front of Congress - they had less than 100.

And the next day - there were 500,000 people marching and protesting against the US immigration policies.

But only the tea baggers made the corporate "news" because they are the ones pushing the corporate agenda.

The Wiz said...

Wow, less than 100!! You are even more delusional than I thought. Look at the tapes of Princes Pelosi and her fellow travelers walking into Congress. There was a huge crowd the entire pathway.


Keep posting stuff like that please. It really helps your credibility.

Dancewater said...

There were less than 100 tea baggers on March 19, 2010 at the doors of Congress.