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


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

War News for Wednesday, July 16, 2008

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division – North Soldier in an IED attack in Diyala Province on Tuesday, July 15th.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - West Marine from wounds he received in action in Al Anbar Province on Monday, July 15th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related causes in Parvan province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 16th.


July 14 airpower summary:

July 15 airpower summary:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The U.S. military said it captured 16 militants including a senior al Qaeda operative during operations in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul.


Hilla:
#1: “Unknown gunmen opened fire randomly in al-Khedr region in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla, killing two civilians,” the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#2: “Another armed group also opened fire randomly in al-Hashemiya district, south of Hilla, killing a child and injuring his brother,” the same source said.

#3: “An improvised explosive device was detonated in al-Muwelha region in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla, injuring one Sahwa fighter,” the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.


Basra:
#1: A Shi'ite cleric was wounded when gunmen attacked his vehicle in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Two civilians were injured on Wednesday in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Mosul, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Muthanna intersection in eastern Mosul, injuring two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq. He did not add more details.

#2: “A suicide bomber blew up a car crammed with explosives targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Maared intersection in eastern Mosul, injuring six civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq on condition of anonymity.

#3: Gunmen killed an Iraqi soldier when they opened fire on a primary school he was guarding in Mosul, police said.

#4: A car bomb killed two civilians and wounded nine others in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#5: A mortar round wounded two civilians when it landed in southeastern Mosul, police said.

Tal Afar:
#1: Police say a car bomb has exploded in a popular outdoor market in northern Iraq, killing at least 12 people and injuring 30. A local police official says a parked car rigged with explosives struck late afternoon shoppers in Tal Afar, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.



Afghanistan:
#1: Afghan security forces and coalition forces killed several militants in air strikes on Tuesday in Shah Wali District of Kandahar Province, the U.S. military said in a statement.

#2: A foreign airstrike killed nine people from one family in the western district of Bakwa in Farah province on Tuesday, the provincial police chief said.

#3: A roadside bomb killed two civilians in the Nadali district of the southern province of Helmand on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.

#4: A bomb blast in a bus station killed one civilian and wounded nine others in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Wednesday, a provincial official said.

#5: Taliban militants kidnapped three judges in Logar province south of Kabul on Tuesday, the provincial governor said.

#6: The Kandahar governor said eight militants were killed in the southern province's Khakrez district in the past two days. A regional Taliban commander, Mullah Mahmoud, who controlled about 250 fighters, was among the dead, NATO said.

#7: In eastern Paktika province, police said four militants planning attacks on supply trucks were killed in an airstrike early Wednesday.

#8: Two men serving alongside Australian soldiers in Afghanistan have been killed in a roadside bomb attack. An Afghan soldier and a coalition forces national were working with an Australian Special Operations Task Group patrol in Oruzgan Province on Tuesday when they were killed by a improvised explosive device. Two other Afghans were injured during the clearance operation. Australian troops gave them first aid and took them to a nearby medical facility for international troops.



U.S. Army Sgt. Jesse Queck, a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza, Italy, was critically injured in a militant assault on a base that troops were in the process of moving, his mother, Penny Rolley, said yesterday. Rolley said Queck had multiple shrapnel wounds.

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