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


Tuesday, May 4, 2010

War News for Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Patrol Base Pimon, in Nad 'Ali, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 3rd.

The British MoD is reporting the death of another British ISAF soldier in a traffic accident near Nad 'Ali in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 3rd.

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Anthony O. Magee died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Tuesday April 27th. He was originally wounded in an indirect fire attack at Contingency Operating Base Kalsu, Iskandariyah, Iraq on Saturday, April 24th.

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier in an IED attack about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City, in the Panjwayi District, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 3rd.


2 more US soldiers die in Iraq: (Note: We don't have confirmation for these yet but believe this to be a credible source -- whisker)


Pentagon OKs 850 more troops for Afghanistan:

Iraqi Sunnis Frustrated as Awakening Loses Clout:

Commentary: Strategic misjudgment and the origins of 9/11:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Lieutenant Colonel Ali Hussein, head of intelligence service in northern Baghdad, was killed when a bomb planted in his car detonated in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhmiyah, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attack took place in the morning when the officer was driving to work, the source said.

#2: Meanwhile, another bomb attached to the car of an employee in the office of the Iraqi ministerial council detonated in the Qahtan Square in western Baghdad, wounding him and two civilians who were close to the scene, the source added.

#3: Three persons were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “The bomb went off on Monday (May 3) targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Kendi street in al-Harithiya region, western Baghdad, injuring two civilians and a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One civilian was killed and six were wounded in a bomb blast in southeastern Baghdad on Monday, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off near a bakery in Baghdad al-Jadieda region, southeastern Baghdad, killing a civilian and injuring six,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: One civilian was killed and three others were wounded when a sticky bomb went off in northern Baghdad late yesterday night. “The bomb was attached to a car driven by the four persons,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Tuesday.


Shirqat:
#1: A parked car bomb killed three people and wounded two in the town of Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb killed one man and wounded six others in the town of Shirqat, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Monday killed a civilian citizen after he left his house in central Kirkuk city.


Mosul:
#1: A car bomb went off on Tuesday in a crowded area in central Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, wounding 13 people, a provincial police source said. A booby-trapped car parked in the dense populated neighborhood of al-Dawassa in central Mosul detonated in the morning, wounding 13 people and damaging several nearby buildings and civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: Security forces announced that the imam of a Sunni mosque in the city of Mosul was shot and killed by unknown gunmen after evening prayers on Monday night.

#3: Two civilians were wounded on Monday in a hand grenade explosion in central Mosul, according to a police source. “Two civilians were wounded on Monday afternoon (May 3) when a gunman threw a hand grenade on a police vehicle patrol in al-Beid region in central Mosul” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One civilian was wounded in a hand grenade explosion in central Mosul, the second of its kind on Monday, a security source said. “A gunman threw a hand grenade on a police vehicle patrol in Bab al-Toub region in central Mosul, injuring a passing civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: Eleven civilians were wounded when a car bomb went off on Tuesday in central Mosul city.

#6: Gunmen on Tuesday killed a policewoman who works in searching women at the Ninewa Provincial Building. “The incident occurred in central Mosul city,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that the policewoman was on her way to work when she was assassinated.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Policemen found on Monday the body of a kidnapped policemen in southern Falluja, according to a security source. “Police forces found the body of a cop, who had been kidnapped three days ago in front of his house in Jubeil neighborhood in southern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The body, which was found in Maqaleaa region in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood in southern Falluja, bore signs of torture,” the source added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A NATO helicopter has crashed in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nuristan, but the military alliance has denied that anyone was killed in the mishap. The military helicopter went down Monday afternoon, wounding several people onboard. NATO blames technical failure for the incident, a Press TV correspondent reported on Tuesday.

#2: A mosque and several shops were reportedly damaged in artillery shelling by the Nato and Afghan security forces from across the border in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on Angoor Adda border town in South Waziristan in the wee hours of Monday. Tribal elder Muhammad Sharif called The News from Angoor Adda and complained that the Nato and Afghan forces opened indiscriminate artillery shelling on the town. He said it caused damage to the main Jamia Masjid in Angoor Adda and several shops in the bazaar. The tribal elder said three artillery shells hit the mosque and damaged a portion of the building. During the time of artillery shelling, he said, 400 students were sleeping at a local Madrassa adjacent to the mosque, but they escaped unhurt.


MoD: Corporal Harvey Holmes

DoD: Sgt. Anthony O. Magee

DND: CF: Petty Officer Second Class Craig Blake

3 comments:

thewiz said...

Interesting article on the Somali Syndrome. It re-affirms the notion that the US was too weak on terrorists and thus encouraged more attacks. bin Laden was emboldened after Somalia and repeatedly increased the attacks until we responded with an all-out war on terrorism.

If we had acted stronger in Somalia and other incidents, perhaps the worst of this would have been avoided.

Black Friday said...

Maybe if "we" had picked up a tin hat and gun he could have shown us how!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

9-11 = reichstag

This has been in the planning since Reagans's presidency: why the halt on the road to bagdad in '91?

'Cause the Americans knew they'd be back ten years later, alone and with greater command of the Forces deployed and outcomes on the ground.

This military stuff is planned by the decades, not day to day.