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


Saturday, October 15, 2011

War News for Saturday, October 15, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Michael R. Tatham died in a motor cycle accident in Bali, Indonesia while on rest and recuperation leave on Wednesday, October 12th. He was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an operation in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, October 13th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, October 14th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead a police major in northwestern Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a colonel in the Iraqi intelligence service in western Baghdad, the ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb went off and wounded six civilians in northeastern Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb went off and wounded a civilian in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad late on Friday, a local police source said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car shot and wounded a civilian in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Iraqi army forces killed a militant when they pursued him after he killed a civilian in eastern Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: U.S. missiles killed six suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border Saturday, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strikes were part of a flurry of such attacks which could indicate a more aggressive American strategy against insurgents finding sanctuary there. In the latest attack, drone-fired missiles slammed into a compound near the border town of Angore Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region.

#2: On Friday, U.S. missiles killed four unidentified people in a part of the North Waziristan tribal region where the Haqqani network holds sway.

#3: Two civilians were killed and three security guards injured when suicide bombers attacked a security forces office in central Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday. 'A car bomb explosion took place within the gates of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Panjshir early morning followed by four other suicide bombings,' the Interior Ministry press office said. A spokesman for the international troops in Kabul confirmed the attack in Panjshir province, 100 kilometres north of Kabul. 'My reports indicate that there were no coalition casualties involved in this attack,' Sergeant Christopher Dewitt said. Taliban militants took responsibility, saying five suicide bombers stormed the compound.

#4: In the southern province of Kandahar, two Taliban insurgents were killed and three others injured by their own explosive material on Saturday. 'At 8 am this morning, two insurgents were killed and three others injured after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off inside a house in Bakhtiyar village of Kandahar city,' a statement from Kandahar media office said. 'The two killed and three wounded were professionals in making IEDs and were valuable to the insurgents'.

#5: Three armed insurgents were killed and three others injured during a three-day clearing operation by the Afghan National Army in Maiwand district of Kandahar.

#6: Two people were killed in a cross-border attack from Afghanistan into Pakistani territory in Lower Dir on Saturday. Sources say Afghan militants fired five mortars which struck Kharkai village in Lower Dir. The mortars hit several houses in the village, killing two locals and injuring another two. However, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has not confirmed the attack.

#7: The head of an Islamic school and an Afghan soldier were wounded in separate roadside bombings in Lashkar Gah district of Helmand Province early on Saturday, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.

#8: A suicide car bombing killed three border policemen and wounded three other policemen and one civilian, in Spin Boldak district, southern Kandahar province, Kandahar police chief Abdul Razak said.

#9: A group of militants on Friday opened fire at a police check post in Peshawar, capital of northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, police officials said. One militant was killed in the firefight which occurred on the outskirts of the city.

#10: A NATO helicopter makes forced landing in restive southern Afghanistan on Friday, the military alliance said on Saturday. "n International Security Assistance Force CH-47 helicopter conducted a forced landing during a mission in southern Afghanistan yesterday," NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. The helicopter was flying a troop transport mission with 12 passengers and five aircrew members on board. Shortly after landing, another ISAF helicopter arrived on the scene and transported the passengers to a nearby ISAF facility without further incident, the statement added. "No members of the aircrew or passengers were harmed," it said.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an operation in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, October 13th.


DoD: Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Michael R. Tatham

DoD: Lance Cpl. Scott D. Harper

3 comments:

Dancewater said...

caption from a photo from today:

A boy holds a picture of late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as demonstrators chant slogans against the United States during a demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in Amman October 15, 2011. According to local sources, dozens of Jordanians protested in Amman against U.S. policies in the Arab regions. The words on the picture reads "If we may have lost a leader and commander. We promised to gain legendary hero and a symbol"

++++++++

The Iraqi people in Amman like Saddam better than the USA.

Dancewater said...

Just saw another photo of an Iraqi boy who lost his left arm at the shoulder in a bomb blast yesterday.

The horrific evil the US visited on Iraq will continue for hundreds of years.

The US should be held to account and severely punished.

Dancewater said...

more active duty military are dying from suicide these days than from combat....

can't say I blame them - I would commit suicide too if I was forced to participate in such monstrous evil!!