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


Sunday, April 12, 2009

War News for Sunday, April 12, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a U.S. Coalition Soldier in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in Salah-ad Din Province on Sunday, April 12th.

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Airman 1st Class Jacob I. Ramsey died in a non-combat related incident in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, April 10th.


April 10 airpower summary:

April 11 airpower summary:

Indiana Businessman Kidnapped In Iraq Still Missing Four Years Later:

Troops patrol streets in southwest Pakistan:

Arrests Deepen Iraqi Sunnis’ Bitterness:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Seven people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the Zaafaraniya neighbourhood of southeastern Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: The Criminal Evidence Police Department personnel also defused two improvised explosive devices found in the area of al-Kharbotliya, central Basra,” it added.


Irbil Prv:
#1: A taxi driver was shot down by unidentified gunmen to the east of Arbil on Sunday, the city’s police chief said. “Unknown gunmen attacked a taxi driver on the road linking Arbil to the district of Bana Salawa, (5 km) east of Arbil. The driver died after receiving several bullets,” Brig. Abdulkhaleq Talaat told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Saturday Around 11 a.m the Iranian artillery bombed heavily for about thirty minutes the plains of Barbizen in Soran district (northeast of Arbil). No casualties reported.


Mosul:
#1: Two policemen were killed in separate attacks on police checkpoints on Saturday in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: An off-duty policemen was wounded by gunmen on Saturday, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: the police official, said a mob Sunday torched two vehicles and two tractors at a local government facility, while another group tried to set fire to a bank. Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is rife with militant and sectarian violence.

#2: Afghan soldiers and police killed 22 militants in a clash in southern Afghanistan, the government said Sunday. The Interior Ministry said the gunbattle occurred Saturday evening when an Afghan army convoy came under attack. Police came to their aid and a clash ensued in which 22 militants died, it said in a statement. The U.S. said the joint forces were attacked Saturday by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades while patrolling in Shinkay. They fired back and called in close-air support, a U.S. statement said.

#3: The U.S. military separately reported that Afghan and coalition forces killed four militants Saturday in the same area - the Shinkay district of Zabul province. It was not immediately clear if the reports referred to the same incident.

#4: On the same day, a suicide bomber was killed in neighbouring Helmand province when he tried to enter a police station, the Interior Ministry said. Police shot the would-be bomber before he could enter the compound and his explosives detonated. The attacker was the only person killed, the ministry said.

#5: Four persons were injured and 13 vehicles destroyed today when a group of pro-Taliban militants attacked two terminals in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar used by convoys ferrying supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan. About 20 militants stormed the two terminals early this morning and opened fire before setting several vehicles on fire. The attacks sparked a gun battle between the militants and police in which four persons were injured, police said. At least 13 vehicles, most of them trucks, were destroyed in the attack.

More than 80 militants attacked a supply terminal in northwest Pakistan that serves U.S. and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, police said. The militants used rocket launchers and petrol bombs to torch 10 trailers at the terminal early Sunday in Peshawar, said Warid Khan of the city's police. An ensuing gun battle with the militants wounded three security guards, said Hassan Muhammad, also of Peshawar police.

#6: Meanwhile, a man was gunned down and two others injured in a separate incident in Peshawar. Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a trailer in the city, killing a man, police said.

#7: Three Afghan policemen were wounded as Taliban insurgents raided the checkpoint in northern Afghan Kunduz province on Saturday night, provincial police chief said onSunday. "The incident occurred in Puli Alchin, 5 km north of provincial capital Kunduz city, and three policemen sustained injuries during the clash," Abdul Rahman Haqtash told Xinhua.

#7: Afghan army commandos disabled a car bomb while on a patrol in Khost province, some 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement.


Casualty Reports:

Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan Walsh, who was injured last summer (08) while serving in Afghanistan. He undergoing rehabilitation at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland. He lost a finger and broke two legs during an ambush in July.

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