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, December 10, 2011

War News for Saturday, December 10, 2011

Canadian charged in Iraq attack

Buchanan: US committed to withdrawal timeline from Iraq


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen in a car attacked a joint government-backed Sunni militia and Iraqi police checkpoint, killing one militia member and wounding one policeman in Saydiya district of southern Baghdad, police said.


Iskandariya:
#1: Three rockets landed in or near the U.S. military's Kalsu base near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, wounding three people living near the base, local police said.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen wearing police uniforms attacked the house of a construction contractor, wounding him and his son north of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Dhukuiya:
#1: Gunmen kidnapped four government employees working at an irrigation project in a farmland east of Dhuluiya, 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad, on Friday evening, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to a car carrying an employee at state-run North Oil Company killed him in eastern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A sticky bomb attached to a car carrying an off-duty Iraqi army officer wounded him in southeastern Kirkuk, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen killed a taxi driver in the western part of the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two policemen when it went off near their patrol in western Mosul, a local police source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Spokesman for the southern Kandahar province Zalmai Ayubi says the first explosion occurred Saturday morning in Khakrez district, when a four-wheel-drive taxi in a rural area hit a roadside bomb, killing three civilians.

#2: In neighboring Maiwand district, an Afghan man was killed when his motorcycle hit a road mine Saturday morning.

#3: In the north, a government transportation director was killed in an explosion midday Saturday. Police spokesman in Kunduz province Sarwar Hussini says 16 others were wounded when a remote-controlled bomb planted on a bicycle detonated as the official's car was passing.


MoD: Sapper Elijah Bond

Posted by whisker at 3:49 AM

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