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, July 17, 2008

War News for Thursday, July 17, 2008

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related causes in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 17th. No other details were released.


WHO says cholera, typhoid main health risks in Iraq:

Fallujah's flames rekindled:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy in Obaidi, east Baghdad at 3 p.m. No casualties were reported.

#2: A roadside bomb exploded near al-Samaraei Mosque, New Baghdad at 7 p.m. killing on civilian, injuring three others.

#3: Two unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad by Iraqi police today, one in Shoala and the other in Palestine Street.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a pick up truck carrying a man and his three sons who were going on a picnic. The explosion, near al-Nyi village, 50 km t the north of Baquba killing the father, injuring all four sons.


Nassiriya:
#1: A keeper of the Hezbollah movement’s building was injured in a stun bomb explosion in central Nassiriya, the media director of the Thi-Qar police department said on Thursday. “The bomb was planted in a bag in front of the Hezbollah building in central Nassiriya. The keeper took it inside the building to search it, but it exploded and injured him,” Colonel Sadeq al-Meshrefawi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a civilian in Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Iraqi police found the body of a civilian in Hilla, police said. The body showed signs of torture.


Samarra:
#1: Iraqi police killed 11 gunmen, including seven foreign Arab nationals, and captured 47 suspected militants in an operation in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded seven members of a U.S. -backed neighbourhood patrol in Samarra, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: Airstrikes have killed at least 10 militants in western Afghanistan today, as Afghan and NATO-led troops targeted a militant cell. Police say three houses have been destroyed during the clashes. And two local militant commanders and their two sons are among the dead. Four civilians, including two children, were wounded in the attack.

U.S.-led forces have killed eight civilians in an air strike during a raid against suspected militants on Tuesday in western Farah province, the U.S. military said.

#2: Six Taliban insurgents were killed in a clash with the Afghan national army in southeastern Paktika province on Wednesday, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

#3: A roadside bomb killed three people in southern Helmand province, an official said.

#4: There were casualties among a police force during an internal clash in Ghazni province on Thursday, a provincial official and eyewitnesses said. The cause of the clash was unclear.

#5: NATO forces in Afghanistan hit targets inside Pakistan with artillery and attack helicopters after coming under rocket fire from across the border, the alliance said on Wednesday. Troops from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) “received multiple rocket attacks from militants inside Pakistan, July 15,” the alliance said in a statement. “The troops identified a (compound) as the point of origin of the attacks and responded in self-defence with a combination of fire from attack helicopters and artillery into Pakistan.” Nine Afghan soldiers were wounded by the rocket attacks and ISAF responded immediately, an ISAF spokesman said


Casualty Reports:

Army specialist Matthew Richardson is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the neck suffered in Iraq. He was shot July 7 in Baghdad. The 21-year-old soldier's sister, Misty Pauley, says he is doing OK but is still in a lot of pain. Richardson arrived at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. last Friday. Doctors inserted a chest tube to help him breathe because of a collapsed lung.

Staff Sgt. Victor Dominguez In July 2006, an improvised explosive device hit Dominguez's unit, causing their armored tank to explode and leaving Dominguez with severe burns on 82 percent of his body. Dominguez, then 22, lost part of both of his legs, his left ear, part of his lower lip and parts of his eyelids.

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