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, February 1, 2011

War News for Tuesday, February 01, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz Jr. died from a non-combat related incident in Parwan province, Afghanistan on Friday, January 28th.


U.S. soldier accused of killing 3 Afghans for sport will face military trial


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An explosive charge blew off against a U.S. Army force east of Baghdad on Tuesday, but the losses were not known, a Baghdad security source said. "An explosive charge blew off against a U.S. Army force in New Baghdad district, but the human or material losses were not known," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the U.S. forces have closed the roads leading to the venue of the blast.


Taji:
#1: A roadside bomb in Al Taji region targeted an Iranian pilgrimage bus and wounded an Iranian pilgrim on Monday night.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The police chief of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar was unharmed Tuesday after a roadside bomb detonated near his convoy, an official said. The explosives were placed in an abandoned wheelbarrow on the eastern outskirts of the provincial capital, also called Kandahar, and were remotely detonated when a convoy of Khan Mohammad Mujahid was passing by, provincial government spokesman Zalmai Ayoubi said. No one was injured in the attack.

#2: In a district in northern Afghanistan also recently retaken from the militants, three women were injured in another roadside bombing. The civilians were travelling Tuesday in the Dasthi Archi district of Kunduz province when the bomb detonated, Sheikh Sadruddin, the district governor, said in Kunduz city.

#3: In the latest attack on convoys in Pakistan carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire at a NATO oil tanker in Balochistan's Mastung district on Tuesday, killing two persons. According to Levis Force, the tanker was en route to Afghanistan from Karachi when armed assailants opened fire at the vehicle in the Dasht region, the Dawn reports. As a result, the tanker's driver died on the spot while a cleaner sustained bullet wounds in the attack.

#4: An Australian special forces soldier is recovering after being accidentally shot during an operation in Afghanistan's northern Kandahar Province last Friday. The soldier, serving with the Special Operations Task Group, was clearing a suspected insurgent cache location when he suffered the serious gunshot wound. Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Mark Evans said it appeared the incident was an accident and not the result of enemy action.

#5: Explosion rocked southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, casualties feared. Meantime, Kandahar police chief Khan Mohammad Mujahid said the blast was a roadside bomb attack, organized against him but he escaped unhurt. "The blast was a roadside bomb, organized by Taliban to kill me but fortunately I escaped unhurt," Mujahid told Xinhua. He also added that the attack happened on a street inside provincial capital Kandahar city when his vehicle was passed. "Fortunately neither my bodyguards nor passersby were hurt in the blast," the police chief further said.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Venetz Jr

2 comments:

Cervantes said...

Following is from Al Jazeera:

"Doha, Qatar, 1 February 2011 - Al Jazeera has stated that their broadcast signal across the Arab region is facing interference on a scale they have not experienced before.



Signals on the Nilesat platform were cut, and frequencies on the Arabsat and Hotbird platforms were disrupted continually forcing millions of viewers across the Arab world to change satellite frequencies throughout the day.



Al Jazeera has been widely praised for their coverage from Egypt and Tunisia despite obstacles put in their path by those governments. Not only have their images and reporting been enthusiastically received by people in the Middle East, but there has been a massive surge in interest in Al Jazeera’s coverage from across the world.



Over the past week the Network has faced multiple attempts to disrupt their coverage from Egypt, with signals being interfered with on a continual basis, and journalists being banned and detained. The latest disruption has come on the day of the historic ‘million man march’ in Cairo.



A spokesman for Al Jazeera said:



“We have been working round the clock to make sure we are broadcasting on alternative frequencies. Clearly there are powers that do not want our important images pushing for democracy and reform to be seen by the public.



“We appreciate the extraordinary support from the ten channels across the region who interrupted their own programming to live-broadcast our signal to their audiences.”

Dancewater said...

Al Jazeera is second to none.