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, May 5, 2011

War News for Thursday, May 05, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-battle related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 4th.


US, France eye faster Afghanistan exit


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded a man when it went off near his armoured car in Baghdad's Abu Nawas street, an Interior Ministry source said.

#2: A bomb placed in a garbage bin wounded two people in al-Nidhal street in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

An Iraqi civilian has been killed and three others were injured in an explosive charge blast in Baghdad on Thursday, a security source said. “An explosive charge blew up central Baghdad’s al-Nidhal Street, killing a civilian and wounding three others, early on Thursday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mussayab:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a house in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Hilla:
#1: A suicide car bomber crashed his vehicle into a barrier outside a police building in central Iraq on Thursday morning, killing 18 policemen and wounding dozens more, a local councilman said. A police official said the bomber hit when the officers were assembling in a square in front of the police building for a shift change in the city of Hillah, about 95 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad. A member of the Hillah city council, Mahmoud al-Murshidi, who spoke to The Associated Press from the hospital, said 18 were killed and 43 people were wounded in the bombing. He said all the casualties were policemen.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a Kurdish security forces patrol, killing two security members and wounding four, including two civilians, in the town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three people were wounded late on Wednesday when a booby-trapped doll exploded inside a restaurant in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A policeman has been killed in a blast of an explosive charge, stuck to his car, in northern Iraq’s Mosul city on Thursday, a security source said. “An explosive charge blew up in a car belonging to a policemen in Ninewa Police Directorate in northern Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: In the volatile southern province of Kandahar, a NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces airstrike killed four rebels, a statement issued by the governor's office said. "Based on intelligence tips, the bodies of four insurgents were discovered in Arghestan district," it said, adding that no causalities among civilians or government forces were reported.

#2: In neighbouring Helmand province, five insurgents were killed when a group of militants attacked three Afghan police checkpoints in Greshik district overnight, the governor's office said in a statement. There were no police casualties.

#3: A base for South Korea''s aid workers and troops in Afghanistan has been shelled, but no injuries were reported, a military official said today. Four artillery shells dropped in and around the base compound in Charika, a city in the northern Afghan province of Parwan on Wednesday, according to the South Korean military official. "Two of the shells appear to have dropped inside the base, with one of them landing outside and the other detonating in midair. We have yet to confirm who was responsible for the attack," he said, adding that there were no injuries or damages to properties.


DoD: Cpl. Kevin W. White

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