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


Thursday, April 21, 2011

War News for Thursday, April 21, 2011

MNF-Iraq (OND) is reporting the death of a U.S. sailor from a non-combat related incident presumably aboard the USS Enterprise on Tuesday, April 19th.

The French MoD is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier from an IED attack south of Kapisa, Afghanistan on Wednesday, April 20th.


Sacramento woman killed in Iraq

Report: Iranian engineers freed in Afghanistan

Taliban Fan Fears of Infiltration in Afghan Forces

Iraq is a US colony ruled by an Islamic regime, Saadi Youssof


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The head of the Iraqi parliament's anti-graft committee narrowly escaped assassination Thursday, according to his political bloc, which is loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Baha al-Araji had been leaving his home in the predominantly Shiite north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah in the morning when three gunmen in an unmarked car pulled up and began firing silenced pistols at him, an official with the Sadrist bloc said from its headquarters in Najaf. "After a car chase, the three gunmen were caught" by Araji's bodyguards, added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

#2: “Unknown gunmen attacked alcoholic beverages store in al-Jihad neighborhood in western Baghdad and opened fire on it, injuring three persons, including the store’s owner,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: “An explosive charge went off in al-Tahrir tunnel in al-Tayaran square, central Baghdad, wounding four persons and damaging a civilian car,” he added.


Samarra:
#1: A child was killed and four more were wounded on Thursday in an assassination attempt of president of the Samarra Criminal Court, a source from the Samarra Operations Command said. "A roadside bomb went off in al-Aamroushiya region, central Samarra, southern Tikrit, targeting the motorcade of Judge Shihab Ahmad al-Aadzawi, who survived the attack, while a child was killed and four others, including three bodyguards, were wounded," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: The director of oil products distribution department in Ninewa was wounded on Wednesday by gunfire in eastern Mosul, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire this evening on Mohammad Younis Ismail, the director of the oil products distribution department in Ninewa, in al-Methaq neighborhood, seriously injuring him,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen in a speeding car shot dead a civilian in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.

#3: Gunmen attacked a police checkpoint, killing two policemen, in western Mosul, a police source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Three policemen have been killed and six others wounded in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan, officials say. The bomb was planted inside a van which was transporting members of the Afghan National Police in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province. The policemen were on their way to work when the blast occurred. The Taliban said they carried out the attack.

#2: (?) About 90 rebels and civilians have been killed in NATO-led military operations in the Logar and Kunar provinces in Afghanistan, local officials and Taliban sources say. At least 70 Taliban rebels were killed in Logar, 65 km south of Kabul, and 17 others were killed in NATO air bombings on a village in the eastern Kunar province. According to Kunar governor Fazlullah Wahidi, one woman and two of her kids died in the attack.

TWO Afghan women were killed in an operation in eastern Afghanistan that also left 17 insurgents dead, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said today. Local officials had previously said that two women and a child died in the fighting late Tuesday in the Dangam district of Kunar province. "The security forces returned fire, killing the insurgent and what turned out to be two women he was hiding behind," an ISAF statement said. It added that during the operation, ISAF troops "killed 17 insurgents including foreign fighters and detained one suspected insurgent while searching for an Al-Qaeda senior leader".

#3: Gunmen on motorcycle attacked and torched two tankers carrying fuel for Western forces in Afghanistan in Bolan, 70 km (43.5 miles) east of Quetta, in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, paramilitary officials in the region said.

#4: At least 12 militants were killed in an operation launched by the Pakistani armed forces in the country's northwest tribal area on Wednesday, reported local Urdu TV channel Ajj. According to the report, the Pakistani army shelled the hideouts of militants in Mohmand Agency with helicopter gunships. During the clashes, one soldier was also killed and six others were injured. The report failed to say at what exact time and in which specific area the military operation was carried out.


MoD: Captain Lisa Jade Head

DoD: Petty Officer 3rd Class Micah Aaron Hill

DoD: Pfc. John F. Kihm

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