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, April 11, 2009

War News for Saturday, April 11, 2009

CJTF - 101 is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a hostile incident in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, April 3rd. One additional soldier was wounded in the attack. At this time we are waiting for better details on this report before adding it to the database. We have also removed the unconfirmed reported Romanian soldier who was reported by the press on the same date Friday, April 3rd.


April 8 airpower summary:

2 soldiers killed in clash with PKK in SE Turkey:

60 drone hits kill 14 al-Qaeda men, 687 civilians:

Back in Texas, A More Simple Life for Bush: (I love this headline, it really says it all. What a stupid sack of s#!*--whisker.)


Reported Security incidents:

Diyala Prv:
Mandali:
#1: One civilian on Saturday was killed and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb went off south of Mandali, according to a security source from the district. “The incident took place at Bazil area, south of Mandlee (55 km northeast of Baaquba city),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Iskandariya:
#1: One civilian was killed on Saturday and a woman was wounded in clashes between an Iraqi and U.S. forces on one side and gunmen on the other north of Hilla city, according to a source from Babel province’s police. “The clashes took place at al-Haq area of al-Iskandariya district, 50 km north of Hila,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The two victims were close to the scene of the clashes,” he said.“The clashes erupted during a raid operation in the area,” he added.


Jbala:
#1: A suicide bomber mingled into a crowd of U.S.-allied Sunni paramilitaries in Iraq on Saturday and detonated his explosives belt, killing seven and wounding 22 others waiting in line for their salaries, Iraqi police said. The 11 a.m. explosion took place outside the military headquarters in the town of Jbala, about 35 miles (50 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid. The bomber walked into the group of about 250 Awakening Council members and blew himself up.


Dalouiya:
#1: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped five farmers east of Dalouiya on Friday evening, a local police source in the district said. “The farmers were working on their fields in the area of Misaada, (6 km) east of Dalouiya were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen and led to a remote spot as their relatives said,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A woman was killed and her daughter wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in eastern Mosul city on Friday, a Ninewa police source said. “The IED, which went off on a main street in al-Zahraa neighborhood, eastern Mosul, did not target any military patrols,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a former candidate in the last provincial election in northeastern Mosul as he left the mosque after Friday prayers, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb killed a woman and wounded her daughter in eastern Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The bodies of six slain coal miners were found in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday. The dead miners were discovered in a village about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Quetta, the provincial capital. All six men had been shot in the head, police official Abdul Malik said. It was unclear when they were killed or who was responsible, but Malik said they had all come from other provinces of Pakistan and that the area was a stronghold of ethnic Baluch militants.

#2: Also on Saturday, unidentified gunmen killed a police officer and a civilian in two separate incidents in Quetta, police official Khalid Masood said.


Casualty Reports:

Abraham Odisho, 20, lost part of his left leg in Iraq. On Friday, the 20-year-old graduate of Johansen High School endured his eighth surgery since being grievously wounded March 27. (09) but the amputation was relatively modest, about 8 inches below his left knee. Yes, he's no longer with his comrades in Bastard Company, 2nd Battalion of the 35th Infantry Regiment. On the day he was wounded he was visiting the agricultural town of Ad Dawr. An insurgent, or whoever it was, had thrown an anti-tank grenade at the passenger's side. A super-heated copper ball tore through the compartment, grazed Odisho's right leg and then obliterated his left shin.

Matt Keil is an Iraq War Veteran who nearly died in Iraq. His injuries left him a quadraplegic. a sniper's bullet left Matt without the use of his arms and legs.

Capt. Jacob Janes of Evansville lost both his lower legs a week ago when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

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