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, September 10, 2011

War News for Saturday, September 10, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, September 9th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in somewhere in southern Afghanistan on Friday, September 9th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead the imam of a mosque near the mosque in Baghdad's southeastern Zaafaraniya district late on Friday, hospital and police sources said.

#2: A bomb attached to a vehicle wounded two civilians when it exploded in Baghdad's northwestern Shula district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen opened fire on two brothers, killing one of them and wounding the other, in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: Gunmen opened fire on an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing one soldier in northern Mosul, a local police source said.

#3: The body of a man with bullet wounds to the head and chest was found a day after he had been kidnapped in western Mosul, a local police source said.

#4: A hand grenade thrown at an army checkpoint wounded two soldiers in northern Mosul, a local police source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan on Saturday killed a local militia commander who had been heavily involved in anti-Taliban activities, an official said, DPA reported. Commander Mohammad Akbar was on his way home when he stepped on a roadside bomb in the Khan Abad district of Kunduz province this morning, Sofi Habib, the district police chief said. Akbar was a commander of local militia forces recently established by the Afghan government and coalition forces to fight with the Taliban and provide security in their own areas.

#2: At least eight people have been killed and four others injured in a bomb attack on a police station in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, Press TV reports. A bomber detonated his explosives-laden car at the entrance to the police compound in Sangin district of the Afghan province late on Thursday, when he was stopped at the building's gate, local officials told Press TV on Friday. Five people, including three policemen, lost their lives in the attack while four others sustained injuries.

#3: Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead the police chief of Aband district in Ghazni city, southwest of Kabul on Saturday, said Mohammad Hussain, a police officer.

#4: Afghan and ISAF troops killed several Taliban insurgents in Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, southwest of Kabul, ISAF said.

#5: Four Afghan soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Manogai district of eastern Kunar province on Friday, Shereen Agha, an army spokesman in the east, said.

#6: ISAF and Afghan forces killed eight insurgents during an operation in Marjah district of southern Helmand province, the provincial governor office said in a statement.

#7: Afghan and ISAF troops killed 14 insurgents during operations in different parts of Afghanistan in the last 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said.

#8: Afghan security forces killed four insurgents during an ambush in eastern Balkh province, the Interior Ministry said

#9: Taliban militants cut the throats of three villagers after accusing them of helping the Pakistani military and dumped their bodies on the road near the Afghan border, police said. Militants left a note with the bodies threatening that those who try to support the government or army will face same fate.

#10: Afghan police during operations have killed 14 insurgents in different parts of the country over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Separately, six other insurgents were killed when ANP laid out ambushes to capture insurgents in northern Balkh and neighboring Faryab province Friday night, according to the statement.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

stop spending on dumb wars, let the money flow and the deficit will be solved in no time, prolongue this crazy stupid matter and get bankrupt over and over again.