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


Thursday, December 22, 2011

War News for Thursday, December 22, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, December 22nd.


Doc wounded in Iraq speaks out about combat trauma

Afghan in U.S. killings was fired, rehired by Canadians

8 US soldiers charged in death of bullied comrade

National Guard (in Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of December 20, 2011


Reported security incidents
Iraq:
Baghdad:
#1: Two roadside bombs went off near a police patrol, killing seven, including three policemen, and wounding 21, in southwestern Amil district

#2: Car bomb in Karrada district killed at least 18 and wounded 44 others.

#3: Roadside bomb near northern Adhamiya district killed one person and wounded five

#4: Roadside bomb in wholesale vegetable market killed one person and wounded six others in northwestern Shula district

#5: Car bomb near market wounded six people in southeastern Ameen district

#6: Two roadside bombs went off in quick succession near police patrols, wounding eight people in northern Shaab district

#7: Car bomb near market killed three people and wounded six in southern Abu Dsheer area

#8: Two roadside bombs went off near a place where day labourers gathered, killing four people and wounding 14 others, in central Alawi area


Jurf al Sakhar:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a crowd of Sunni Sahwa members, and wounded three fighters in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Mussayab:
#1: Gunmen attacked a Sunni Sahwa checkpoint and wounded two of its members in the town of Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to a car carrying a leader of the government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia killed him when it went off in Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A family of five - parents, their two daughters and a son - were gunned down by insurgents in a suburb of the Diyala provincial capital Baquba, north of the capital, early on Thursday, medical and security officials said. The father and son were both members of the anti-Qaeda Sunni tribal militia known as the Sahwa which sided with the US military from late-2006, helping turn the tide of the insurgency.

#2: A gunman carrying a silenced weapon opened fire at a local mayor and wounded him in a market in the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Sararra:
#1: Gunmen in a car opened fire at a police checkpoint and wounded two policemen late on Tuesday in the city of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said


Kirkuk:
#1: Two sticky bombs attached to two cars carrying a judge and his son killed the judge and his guard and wounded his son and two pedestrians in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three Katusha rockets fell on the Airport of Mosul city, the center of north Iraq's Ninewa Province on Wednesday night, a Ninewa security source reported on Thursday. "Three Katusha rockets fell on Mosul Airport, south of the city, late Wednesday night, causing no serious losses," the security source


Afghanistan:
#1: A suicide bomber was killed by Afghan National Police in Khost province on Wednesday, the interior ministry said in a statement.

#2: Four armed insurgents were killed in a police operation in Helmand province late on Tuesday, the provincial governor's office said in a statement. One civilian was killed by a homemade mine in the same district, it added.

#3: At least eight people were injured when a blast hit Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Wednesday night, reported local Urdu TV channel ARY. The blast took place at about 8:20 p.m. local time Wednesday outside a local private hospital in the city. The bomb was planted inside a car parking outside Nasirudin Surgical Hospital on the Dora road in the Gulbahar area of Peshawar, said local media


Pol/MoD: szer. Krystian Banach

Pol/MoD: st.kpr. Piotr Ciesielski

Pol/MoD: st.szer. Ɓukasz Krawiec

Pol/MoD: st.szer. Marcin Szczurowski

Pol/MoD: st.szer. Marek Tomala

4 comments:

Cervantes said...

The bombings in Baghdad have obviously been planned for some time, and probably aren't in response to Maliki's attempted power grab per se; conversely, the attacks on Sahwas in the Sunni triangle are more likely the work of government agents than of "insurgents," in my view. Hashimi, BTW, is a very unlikely terrorist leader -- the charges are almost certainly bogus.

In any event, Iraq seems to be coming apart at the seams. Very sad, and Maliki has to get a big share of the blame.

Cervantes said...

For what it's worth, Juan Cole thinks Iran may be pressuring Maliki to purge the Sunni leadership because of their opposition to Assad, protection of MEK, and Iran's general interest in having a more compliant Iraq.

Dancewater said...

Juan Cole is often wrong. And he is a war-supporter. Most recently, he supported the NATO bombing of Libya.

Got to wonder how the UN can tell us how many were killed in Syria, but not Libya or Iraq.

they have their agenda.....


and it is very sad to see this violence in Iraq, but I would not call it 'coming apart at the seams'.... they have been badly brutalized by the US war of aggression and occupation, and will take decades to recover.

Dancewater said...

U.S.: Poor coordination, mapping data led to Pakistani deaths in cross-border raid

for what it is worth - sounds like excuses to me....