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


Monday, February 21, 2011

War News for Monday, February 21, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Staff Sgt. Bradley C. Hart died from a non-combat related incident at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa on Thursday, February 17th.

The French DM is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier from a small arms fire/anti-tank attack near the village of Landakhel in valley of Kapisa, Kipisa province, Afghanistan on Saturday, February 19th.Two additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here's the ISAF release.

The Australian DoD is reporting the death of an Australian ISAF soldier from small arms fire in an area to the South East of Patrol Base Wali, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan on Saturday, February 19th. An Afghan interpreter was also killed in the attack. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED strike in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, February 20th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Baghdad's Internal Security Forces' Appeals Judge has escaped an assassination attempt, when an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up against his motorcade in southern Baghdad on Monday. "An IED blew off against the entourage of Baghdad's International Security Forces' Appeals Judge, Brig. Abdul-Mun'im Mowla, in southern Baghdad's Daura district, slightly wounding two of his bodyguards and causing damage to a number of his entourage cars," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Samarra:
#1: At least 12 police officers were killed and 20 others wounded when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden vehicle into the federal police headquarters in the city of Samarra, authorities said. The attack took place in the al-Ashaq district of Samarra, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: "The body of an Egyptian man was found killed in his house in central Kirkuk's Shaturlu district on Sunday night," Brig. Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: In another incident, Kirkuk's Miqdad Police Director, Kamel Ahmed, said that four unknown gunmen, have abducted a Turkoman citizen close to his house in the main road leading to Baghdad in southern Kirkuk. "The abducted man works in a money exchange bureau close to Kirkuk's Grand Nur Mosque," he said, giving no further details.


Shirqat:
#1: At least two people died and six others were wounded Sunday when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a Sunni mosque at the conclusion of a birthday celebration for the Muslim prophet Mohammed, according to local police. Police told CNN that the attack happened as worshippers were leaving the Mara al-Hayss mosque in Shirqat, a small town in the Nineveh provice about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Baghdad.

#2: Two suicide bombers have been killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) accidental bast in a civilian car in Salah al-Din Province's Shirgat township on Sunday night, a Shigat security source said. "An IED blew up accidentally inside a Corona civilian car in central Shirgat on Sunday night, killing two persons that were discovered to be suicide bombers," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Monday's suicide attack in Kunduz province 250 km north of Afghan capital Kabul has killed 31 so far, an official said. "In the suicide attack that targeted the office of Registration and Census department at 12:15 p.m. local time in Imam Sahib district today, 31 people including women and children have been registered dead and 39 others sustained injuries," district governor Mohammad Ayub Haqyar told Xinhua.

#2: A suspected U.S. missile strike killed four alleged militants in a Pakistani tribal region along the Afghan border early today, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The two intelligence officials say three missiles hit a house overnight Monday in the Kaza Panga village of the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan tribal region. The exact identities of the dead were not immediately clear.

#3: Afghan officials said on Monday that six members of the same family were killed overnight when a NATO air strike mistakenly hit their home. 'The airstrike was originally targeting three insurgents who were planting mines on a road. One missile mistakenly hit a house and killed six civilians, all members of the same family,' Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, Nangarhar provincial spokesman, told AFP.

#4: Tribal elders in a remote part of northeastern Afghanistan claimed Sunday that NATO forces killed 64 civilians in air and ground strikes over the past four days. The international coalition denied the claim, saying video showed troops targeting and killing dozens of insurgents. Coalition and Afghan officials plan to go to the Ghazi Abad district of Kunbar province, a hotbed of the insurgency, on Monday to investigate. Civilian casualties have been a constant source of friction between coalition troops and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Tribal elders told the provincial governor that air strikes hit a village in the area and that "women and children had been killed inside their houses," said Nawrdin Safi, a member of the Kunar provincial council. Kunar province police chief Gen. Khalilullah Ziayi said local residents claimed 15 men, 20 women and 29 children or young adults were killed during operations in the area, about 190 kilometers (117 miles) east of Kabul.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Bradley C. Hart

Au DoD: Sapper Jamie Ronald Larcombe

13 comments:

Cervantes said...

Well duhhhh:

The American arrested in Pakistan after shooting two men at a crowded traffic stop was part of a covert, C.I.A.-led team of operatives conducting surveillance on militant groups deep inside the country, according to American government officials.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he wasn't just doing surveillance -- he was obviously a hired assassin. Diplomatic immunity my left nut.

Cervantes said...

And a couple more things. Davis is a former Blackwater op. And the Pakistanis he killed in self defense? He shot both of them several times in the back.

Dancewater said...

Blast from the Past: George Bush Bragged About Diplomatic Success With Blood-Stained Libyan Despot Muammar Gaddafi

I think you really have to give the right some credit for sheer Chutzpah. Just 7 short years after George W. Bush normalized relations with the Libyan regime, over the strong opposition of Barack Obama, some conservatives actually have the nerve to revise that very recent history and claim the reverse to be true (causing even Debbie Schussel, of all people, to cry 'foul').

Anyway, I dug this bit out of Bush's 2004 State of the Union speech:

Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better. Last month, the leader of Libya voluntarily pledged to disclose and dismantle all of his regime's weapons of mass destruction programs, including a uranium enrichment project for nuclear weapons. Colonel Qadhafi correctly judged that his country would be better off, and far more secure, without weapons of mass murder. Nine months of intense negotiations involving the United States and Great Britain succeeded with Libya, while 12 years of diplomacy with Iraq did not. And one reason is clear: For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible -- and no one can now doubt the word of America.

Yup, diplomacy was great with the eminently-reasonable colonel Gaddafi, but didn't result in Saddam Hussein handing over the weapons that he had destroyed a decade earlier.

And ever since that time, "no one can doubt the word of America."


Rest here

Dancewater said...

Another thing about the Davis case - the NYT did not report what they knew until their Masters (our government) told them it was okay to do so. That was after The Guardian reported on it.

We don't need state-run media when we have corporate-run media (who also run the state). Those corporations know what is best for us .... and the rest of the world too!

hahahahaha.....

The Wiz said...

Khaddafi is bombing his people as I write...damn good thing he was forced to give up his WMD by Pres Bush or he would be using gas or nukes own his own people.

Dancewater said...

Navigating the aftermath

This is a project to heal the wounds of war in Iraqi and American lives via art.

"Navigating the Aftermath is at the University of Minnesota from February 18 – March 4. From June to October, it will tour alongside "The Unreturned" to six Minnesota towns: Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Ely, Bemidji, and Winona. "The Unreturned" portrays the lives of five displaced Iraqis from different ethnicities and religions and captures scenes of daily life that are both personal and illustrative of the larger issues facing Iraq.

After the Minnesota tour, the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (the host of the campaign) will tour to other locations around the U.S. American communities will be given the opportunity to engage with the effects of the ongoing war, discuss what is needed for healing, and begin to act for a more peaceful future where war and its consequences are fully understood."

Dancewater said...

Gaddafi did not have nuclear weapons, he had nuclear weapon programs.

But he is still killing a lot of people, and there is an uproar in Britain over the fact that the weapons were given to him by the British government.

I guess we should be glad the weapons used on the protesters are not stamped "Made in the USA" this time.

Dancewater said...

and, any country with a nuclear power plant program can move into nuclear weapon programs pretty quickly.

Dancewater said...

TUNISIA>████████████████ : 100% done

EGYPT>████████████████ : 100% done

LIBYA>██████████░░░░░░ : in progress

ALGERIA>████░░░░░░░░░░░░ : in progress

YEMEN>██████░░░░░░░░░░ : in progress

BAHRAIN>██████████░░░░░░ : in progress

PALESTINE>░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ : The Next Project

Dancewater said...

CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year, according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear on a U.S. list of most-wanted terrorists: two.

Despite a major escalation in the number of unmanned Predator strikes being carried out under the Obama administration, data from government and independent sources indicate that the number of high-ranking militants being killed as a result has either slipped or barely increased.

Even more generous counts - which indicate that the CIA killed as many as 13 "high-value targets" - suggest that the drone program is hitting senior operatives only a fraction of the time.

The rest of the story.

We are creating "terrorists" faster than we can kill them.

And the CIA does not know who it is killing, or who is working for them.

Dancewater said...

People & Power reveals the story behind the unprecedented political protests in Egypt. Over the course of a remarkable fortnight, People&Power has been filming exclusively behind the scenes with a core group of young activists.

Egypt: Seeds of change

Dancewater said...

Excellent report on US Medevac helicopter unit in Afghanistan.

Blood and Dust

Dancewater said...

Some pictures of the Iraqi orphans protesting are on my blog Faces of Grief.

They are carrying green flags which are religious flags. They are being raised to be Islamists, I would say.