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, August 8, 2009

War News for Saturday, August 08, 2009

Aug. 5 airpower summary:

Soldier killed in PKK attack in SE Turkey:

Colombia to send troops to Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A parked car bomb targeted a police patrol in al Jemiyah open air market in Khadhraa neighbourhood, western Baghdad at 8.30 p.m. Friday killing three policemen, three civilians and injured at least 30 civilians. The explosion also caused material damages to the shops and houses nearby.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad, police said.

#3: A bomb hidden in a motorcycle killed six people and wounded 35 in a market in the mostly Sunni Muslim district of al-Khadhraa in west Baghdad on Friday, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A sahwa (awakening) tribal fighter was killed and four others wounded in an attack by gunmen on their checkpoint in the district of Baaquba on Friday, a security source in Diala said. “Gunmen suspected members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) network attacked a sahwa checkpoint in the area of al-Othmaniya, Baaquba, and opened a volley of fire at the guards on duty there, leaving one killed and four others wounded,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Unidentified gunmen killed an owner of a money exchange store and wounded two others in central Baaquba district on Friday, a security source in Diala province said. “The gunmen later stole large sums of money from the store and escaped to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Thi Qar Prv:
#1: Seven Katyusha rockets on Saturday were found in Thi-Qar province, according to a local police statement. “In cooperation with the 8 th Emergency Regiment, a force from the Souk al-Shoyookh Police Department seized seven Katyusha rockets of 155mm caliber in al-Nawashi village of Souk al-Shoyookh district (30 km southeast of Nassiriya City),” read the statement that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Sulaimaniyah Prv:
#1: Insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Darbendikhan district, near Darbendikhan dam at 1.30 a.m. Friday killing one traffic policeman and injuring two others.


Hawija:
#1: An attacker threw a grenade on a U.S. patrol. Three civilians were wounded in the attack in Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said.>


Kirkuk:
#1: A police patrol found the burnt body of a man believed to be an Iranian at a graveyard in northern Kirkuk on Friday, a senior police official said. “A patrol of the Azadi police station found on Friday evening the burnt body of a man with an Iranian passport at the Abu Alluk graveyard in the northern Kirkuk area of al-Musalla,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One cop has been wounded in an armed attack in Kirkuk City, according to a source from the Joint Coordination Center. “During a late hour on Friday evening, unknown gunmen opened fire on a bomb squad policeman in Baroud Khana area, northern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: policeman was killed by gunmen fire in a crowded marketplace in central Mosul city on Friday, a security source in Ninewa said. “Gunmen opened fire at a policeman on a leave in the pedestrian-crammed area of Bab el-Toub, central Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two policemen were killed in an attack by gunmen on a checkpoint southeast of Mosul city on Friday, a security source in Ninewa province said. “Gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in the district of al-Nimrod district, southeast of Mosul, leaving two policemen killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: In the first incident at midday on Friday (7 August 2009), two Australian soldiers operating with the 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-2) were wounded after a Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED).

#2: In a separate incident on Friday, an Australian 2nd Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force vehicle patrol struck an anti-personal mine while travelling in a Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle. There were no casualties as a result of that incident.

#3: In a third incident, during an Australian foot patrol, an IED was initiated near MRTF soldiers but without effect. There were no injuries reported.

#4: Earlier today (Saturday), a Bushmaster was travelling to the scene of an earlier incident and struck an IED. One Australian soldier was wounded and has been aero-medically evacuated to Tarin Kowt for further treatment. The wounds are not life-threatening. The bomb badly damaged the vehicle.

#5: NATO-led troops are investigating whether they mistakenly killed two civilians in Uruzgan province in the south while firing mortars at an insurgent on Friday, NATO forces said in a statment.

#6: Five Afghan civilians were killed when their car struck a roadside bomb in the Garmsir district of Helmand province in the south of the country on Friday, provincial governor spokesman Dawood Ahmadi said.

#7: The Interior Ministry said Afghan troops backed by U.S. forces had killed 20 militants and seized a weapons cache during a sweep operation in the eastern Sabari district of Khost Province near the Pakistan border on Friday.

#8: One insurgent was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb they were planting went off in the eastern Yaqubi district of Khost near the Pakistan border on Friday, the Interior Ministry said



DoD: Lance Cpl. James D. Argentine

DoD: Lance Cpl. Travis T. Babine

DoD: Cpl. Christian A. Guzman Rivera

DoD: Sgt. Jay M. Hoskins

MoD: Corporal Kevin Mulligan

MoD: Lance Corporal Dale Thomas Hopkins

MoD: Private Kyle Adams

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