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, May 20, 2011

War News for Friday, May 20, 2011

Kirkuk Bombs Threaten Iraq's Oil Security

Wildcat strikes spread in Iraq as BP lifts first oil cargo

Troop morale in Afghanistan plummets, report says

Cdn. medics kept busy in Afghanistan

Armed skirmish reported at Tajik-Afghan border in Khatlon

A new test for Taliban and al-Qaeda ties

5 Mehdi Army chiefs escape from Taji prison


Reported security incidents

Qaiyara:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraq army patrol, killing four soldiers, in the town of Qaiyara, 290 km (180 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: update Thirty-six people were killed and 20 wounded when the Taliban stormed an Afghan road construction company. The violence in the eastern province of Paktia, which borders Pakistan, started at around 2am on Thursday and raged for several hours. One security guard who survived told said that 'hundreds' of Taliban had swamped the compound, forcing him and two colleagues to hide with guns and a few bullets so they could kill themselves if they were found.

#2: The Taliban bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar on Friday, killing one person and wounding 11 others in the first attack on Americans in Pakistan since Osama bin Laden's death. A US embassy spokesman said two US government employees were lightly wounded in the rush-hour attack in the volatile northwestern city, which runs into the tribal belt that Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda. One of two armoured vehicles was damaged by what a bomb disposal official said was 50 kilos of low-grade explosives packed into a car and detonated by remote-control, dismissing initial reports of a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. "Two vehicles of the US consulate were on their way to the consulate when they were attacked," US embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez told AFP. "One vehicle was damaged. There is no death among our personnel and there are no serious injuries," he added. "Only one car was hit. In that car there were US citizen diplomats and a Pakistani driver," he said, adding that two male US government employees inside the car suffered "minor injuries".

#3: A civilian was killed and nine others injured Thursday when a powerful bomb explosion rocked Kandahar city, officials said. Eight civilians were injured Thursday when a powerful bomb explosion rocked Kandahar city, the provincial capital of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Eye witnesses told Xinhua that the explosive were planted in a motorbike and detonated near the Kabul Bank branch.

#4: One child was killed and four civilians wounded when a bomb hidden in a bag exploded near shops and a shrine in southern Kandahar city, said Zalmay Ayoubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor.

#5: At least 60 insurgents were killed by Afghan and foreign forces in a three-day operation in northwestern Faryab province, ISAF said in a statement. The offensive started on May 13 in Faryab's Qiasar district, it said.


FR/MoD: Private 1st Class Cyril Louaisil

DoD: Spc. Brandon M. Kirton

2 comments:

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