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, July 15, 2011

War News for Friday, July 15, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 14th.


Thirteen Turkish troops killed in clash with Kurdish rebels

In Shadow of Death, Iraq and U.S. Tiptoe Around a Deadline

Reported security incidents




Abu Ghraib:
#1: In early hours of the day, gunmen disguised as Iraqi security forces broke into a house in Abu Ghraib area, some 20 km west of Baghdad, and shot dead a man before they fled the scene, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The victim is an ex-Awakening Council group member, or al-Sahwa in Arabic, who fought al-Qaida group militants in the Sunni Arab areas during the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the source said.


Al Hajaj:
#1: In north of Baghdad, two policemen and two gunmen were wounded in a clash erupted between gunmen and an Iraqi police force during a raid on a safe house used by insurgents in the village of al- Hajaj near the city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province, a source from the provincial operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car killed one man in al-Nasr neighbourhood in the eastern parts of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.


Mosul:
#1: Two women were killed by armed men in a busy market in the center of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. A shop owner standing nearby was also wounded in the attack.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb has killed five civilians in southern Afghanistan, government officials have said. Those killed include two children. All the victims were passengers in a minivan. The attack took place in Sangin district in Helmand province.

#2: Three soldiers were killed and two others wounded Thursday by a landmine planted by militants in a restive area bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The soldiers were conducting a search operation in the Makeen area of the South Waziristan tribal district.
“Three soldiers were martyred and two others were wounded when a landmine planted by militants exploded,” a senior security official told AFP.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Robert S. Greniger

DoD: Seaman Aaron D. Ullom

Posted by whisker at 3:32 AM

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)