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 22, 2011

War News for Tuesday, February 22, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED strike in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, February 20th. News reports that a Georgian soldier died and two others were wounded in a mine explosion in Helmand province.


40 billion USD 'missing' from Iraq accounts

'Killer' diplomat a CIA agent?

American Held in Pakistan Worked With C.I.A.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three Iraqis, including a soldier, have been injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast east of Baghdad on Tueday, a security source said. "An IED blew up against an Iraqi Army parol in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, wounding one of its soldiers and two civilians, who happened to be close the venue of the attack," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An Iraqi civilian has been injured in an explosion that took place in a mobile oil tank in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, a Baghdad security source said. "An improvised explosive charge (IED) blew off against a mobile oil tank, carrying oil products, in southern Bagdad's Daura distinct on Tuesday, wounding a civilian," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the explosion had set fire to the mobile tank.


Diyala Prv:
#1: an immigrant family's house was attacked in the same city by an improvised explosive device (IED) on Monday, the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said the IED blew up in the family's house, wounding one of its members and causing severe damage to the house.

#2: A Muslim mosque preacher had been assassinated in an attack by unknown gunmen in northeastern Iraq's city of Baaquba on Monday, a security source said. an unknown armed group broke through al-Bukhary Mosque in Miqdadiya township, 45 kms to the northeast of Baaquba, opened fire on its Preacher, Sheikh Qassim Balasim, killing him on the spot.


Kirkuk:
#1: “A joint patrol of emergency police and U.S. troops seized on Monday evening (Feb.21) a car laden with TNT in Wahed Hozayran region, southwestern Kirkuk,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2-3: “An explosive charge went off near a patrol of the Kirkuk Districts Police Department (KDPD) in al-Huweija, southwest of Kirkuk, without causing damage, while another bomb exploded in Teseen region, causing some material damage,” he added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One civilian was killed on Monday in a sticky bomb explosion in central Falluja, according to a police source. "A bomb, stuck to a civilian car, went off near Othman mosque in al-Muaalamen neighborhood, central Falluja, killing him instantly and damaging the car," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb targeting a paramilitary vehicle in Pakistan’s southwest wounded three soldiers, police said. Police official Mohammed Aslam Bangalzai said Tuesday’s attack happened in Gwadar, a port city in the southwestern province of Balochistan. He said the bomb was believed to be attached to a motorcycle.

#2-3: update Two US drone strikes Monday killed at least 15 alleged militants linked to Al Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

#2: An unmanned aircraft fired four missiles into a suspected Al Qaeda training centre in the early hours in Birmal area, 13 km west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan district. "Seven people died in the attack," a local intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. "Three Arabs and two Turkmen are among the dead," the official added. The other two alleged militants were locals, he said.

#3: Several hours later, another drone attack hit the neighbouring district of North Waziristan district, killing eight people. "Four missiles fired from a drone destroyed a compound in Spalga village near Miranshah," said a third intelligence official who also sought anonymity.

#4: An explosion rocked a Kabul district that is home to the headquarters of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force and near the presidential palace and many embassies, a police source said on Tuesday. “The explosion was in Shashdarak district. We don’t know whether it was a bomb,” the source told Reuters. He asked not to be named as he is not authorised to talk to the media. ISAF said they were not immediately aware of any explosion.

#5: An explosion wounded five people in a market in northwestern Peshawar on Tuesday, police said.

At least 14 people were injured Tuesday in a grenade attack in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, police sources said. According to security sources, some unknown miscreants riding on a motorcycle attacked an electric pole with a hand grenade in the Shafi market in the cantonment area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The impact of the blast also destroyed a transformer at the pole damaging some nearby shops. People were injured in the destroyed shops.


News: Corporal Giorgi Avaliani

12 comments:

Cervantes said...

Let us suppose there were Pakistani mercenaries, employed by that country's secret intelligence service, driving around the United States armed with semi-automatic pistols, with diplomatic immunity, hunting down extremist militants. That would mean, in the U.S., Christian dominionists, minutmen, the Michigan Militia, that sort of thing.

Or perhaps acting as agents provocateurs, or spying on the U.S. military?

Suppose this was happening with the knowledge and tacit approval of the United States government? Suppose one of them shot two U.S. citizens, and a vehicle from the Pakistani embassy, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, struck and killed a third citizen on the way to rescue him?

Obviously, we would think that was perfectly normal and acceptable. What's wrong with those wacky Pakistanis that they are upset about the identical situation? The Asiatic mind is sure obscure.

The Wiz said...

Well, lets see...if my country was in a state of civil war....with large areas out of control of the country's government...with terrorists blowing up people...with the economy tanking because of the violence....and the people living with fear of being beheaded if they say the wrong thing.....and another country was trying to help kill the terrorists....giving huge amounts of aid..... risking their own lives to help ours.......... I just might accept that sometimes bad things will happen.

Cervantes said...

Man, you are denser than a neutron star.

The Wiz said...

Aaaaahhhhh.... you paint an imagine of Pakistanis riding around the US whacking those crazy Christians as a direct comparison....and I'm the dense one.....right

Dancewater said...

yes, you are the dense one.

Interesting that thewiz only cares about innocent victims of violence when they are hurt/killed by the CORRECT people - which happen to NEVER be Americans. It's like we only kill out of kindness or something, in order to bring forth freedom and a better life for all - including the dead people, the widows and the orphans!

He is quite dense, and it is on purpose.

Dancewater said...

I was wrong about Libya not using USA-made weapons on it's own citizens. Apparently, they are doing exactly that, and since 2005 when Bush "normalized" relations with Gaddafi, they have sold LOTS OF WEAPONS. Not sure if this was part of US "aid" to Libya or not.

It is Saddam all over again..... except, maybe, this time, the Republicans won't stop the US congress and the UN from condemning his killing of his own citizens- like they did with Saddam in the 1980s.

Dancewater said...

At least 15 people were killed today in a new flurry of US drone strikes against Pakistani tribal areas. The first strike killed seven people in South Waziristan, while a second strike killed another eight in North Waziristan.

The strikes were the first in nearly a month, an atypical lapse that has fueled reports that the detained CIA spy and US ‘consulate worker’ Raymond Davis, who police say was captured with GPS tracking devices on him, played a key role in the strikes.

As is always the case in such strikes, Pakistani officials immediately termed everyone slain in the strike a “suspect,” but provided no indications to suggest that any of the slain were “high value” targets, nor indeed any indication that they were militants at all, beyond the fact that missiles hit their homes.

[Guilty until tortured or killed guilty.... no proof needed for the blood thirsty warmongerers!]

Rest here

Dancewater said...

Such strikes have killed over a thousand people in the last two years, but only a trivial number of them have ever been conclusively tied with militant factions, and the vast majority of them appear to have been simply innocent tribesmen.

[from the above link]

Dancewater said...

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PETRAEUS IS A LYING SACK OF SHIT

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Dancewater said...

A leading human rights group released a report Monday documenting the proliferation of human rights abuses in Iraq since the United States invasion in 2003.

Among the most egregious cases, the 102-page report by Human Rights Watch identifies women, journalists, detainees, and marginalized groups, including internally displaced persons and religious minorities, as the most vulnerable populations in Iraq.

“Beyond the continuing violence and crimes associated with it, human rights abuses are commonplace,” the report found.

It said that in many instances the Iraqi government has failed to pursue “independent and impartial” investigations.

“At a Crossroads: Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years After the U.S.-Led Invasion” is based on 178 interviews with individuals from a variety of stations in Iraqi society in seven cities across the country dating back to April 2010.

EIGHT YEARS OF ABUSES AND IMPUNITY IN IRAQ

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Dancewater said...

SULAIMANIYA / Aswat al-Iraq: Three citizens were killed and 121 were wounded in the clashes that accompanied protests in the city of Sulaimaniya, a medical source said on Monday.

Dancewater said...

what a shocker - other NATO countries lie too:


Norway joined NATO in suppressing reports of civilian Afghan deaths

“Norway’s ambassador emphasized the need to avoid a public debate about the reporting of the number of civilians killed.”

They also are sociopaths who only care about dead people when they are killed by the "correct" people.

I wonder if they also are concerned about clumps of cells called fetuses, but only if they reside inside a uterus of an American or Western and are not part of IVF...... or a fetus inside the uterus of someone killed by NATO or the US Military, CIA. Ever see those pictures of babies shot inside the womb? gruesome. Of course, they have to be almost full term when they are killed to recognize them.

Anyway, back to the lies by Norway's government officials - the good people of Norway are not going to let this go unpunished, I predict.