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, August 29, 2011

War News for Monday, August 29, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 27th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 28th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide bomber blew himself up inside Baghdad's largest Sunni mosque Sunday night, killing 29 people during prayers. Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad's military operations command, confirmed the bombing happened inside the Um al-Qura mosque during prayers in the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Jamiaah. The blue-domed building is the largest Sunni mosque in Baghdad.

#2: A roadside bomb went off and wounded five people, including two policemen, in the Zaafaraniya district of south-eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: A parked car bomb blew up near a mosque in south-western Baghdad late on Sunday, killing one person and wounding eight others, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Two cops were killed and two wounded due to an armed attack in the center of Baaquba city, Diala province security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that an armed group attacked Monday morning a police check point in mid of the city and shot them which led to two killings and two wounded cops.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Security forces had killed 12 Taliban militants in Helmand province 555 km south of capital city Kabul on Sunday, spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi said Monday. "Security forces came in contact with a group of armed Taliban rebels in Washir district on Sunday during which 12 insurgents were killed," Ahmadi told Xinhua. A Taliban commander Mullah Salam sustained injuries during the fighting, he said. There were no casualties on the troops, he emphasized.

#2: Three militants were killed when a roadside bomb they were planting exploded in the eastern Paktika province on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

#3: Afghan security forces and ISAF troops killed an insurgent in northern Kunduz province on Sunday, the coalition said in a statement.

#4: Afghan forces and ISAF troops killed six insurgents overnight in central Ghazni province, regional governor spokesman Mahrof Ayoubi said

#5: A government health worker and his driver were killed Sunday in a roadside bomb blast in northern Afghanistan, officials said. Dr. Ahmad Jawed Karim and his driver hit an explosive as they were driving in Takhar provinc's Dahana Sangi district, the health ministry said in a statement.


DoD: Pfc. Brandon S. Mullins

DoD: Pfc. Jesse W. Dietrich

DoD: Spc. Michael C. Roberts

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