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, August 22, 2009

War News for Saturday, August 22, 2009

Iraqi FM: Baghdad bombings possible inside job:

After Blasts, Iraqi Officials Point Fingers:

Iraqi PM blames Sunni insurgents for Baghdad bombs:

Legitimacy concerns over Afghanistan elections:

Afghan Election Poses New Tests for Washington:

Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops:

CIA Used Gun, Drill in Interrogation:

Environmental Intrigue on the Eastern Shore:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: In Adhamiyah, a Sunni neighbourhood in north-west Baghdad, two soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint by gunmen using silenced pistols, who then fled the scene in a car. A third soldier was wounded.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Saiydia district, southern Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Baquba, 60km north-east of the capital in Diyala province, a soldier was killed and two others wounded when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed through the centre of the city.

#2: Iraqi army forces found on Friday an unknown body in Khanaqin, an army source said, while a police source said that a man killed his son during a family argument in Jalawlaa. “An Iraqi army force found on Friday afternoon (Aug. 21) an unknown corpse of a young man on the main road between Jalawlaa and al-Saadiya districts, southwest of Diala,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the body bore signs of gunshot wounds and his hands tied behind his back.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Iraq Security Forces recovered a truck Friday with five tons of C-4 explosives in the Abu Ghraib area, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, Atta said Friday night.


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi army officer on Saturday was wounded when an explosive charge went off in southern Kirkuk, according to a local police source. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the vehicle of an army officer near al-Rabie Bridge, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded an off-duty Iraqi army officer in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three army soldiers were killed and four were wounded in a car bomb explosion in west of Mosul on Friday, Talafar police chief said. “A car rigged with explosives went off Friday afternoon (Aug. 21) near an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in Uwaynat village in Rabiea district, west of Mosul, killing three soldiers and injuring four,” Ali Hadi Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A civilian was killed and three others were injured when a bomb detonated in Tal Afar city west of Mosul on Friday morning.

#3: Four Iraqi soldiers including two officers were killed and one was injured by a roadside bomb that targeted their vehicle on Zammar – Rabiaa Street northwest of Mosul on Friday afternoon.

#4: An owner of a liquor store on Saturday was killed by unknown gunmen in downtown Mosul City, according to a local police source. “This afternoon, a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a man inside his store on Halab St., downtown Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: A neighborhood’s mayor and two children were all killed when a roadside bomb went off Saturday in front of the mayor’s office in Mosul city, said a police source from Ninewa province.
“The blast took place at al-Qahira neighborhood, northern Mosul city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The two children, 7 and 12 years old, were close to the incident’s location,” he said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Friday Two guards of Captain Jamal al Jumaili, the in charge officer of Fallujah checkpoints were wounded when a bomb detonated near the house of the officer in Fallujah west of Baghdad on Thursday night.

#2: Friday Around 1 p.m. gunmen driving a speeding car opened fire upon Sheikh Abdul Rahman Thahir Al-dhari while he was leaving the mosque in Al-zidan area in east Fallujah after the Friday prayers. Two of the Sheikh's guards were injured.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban guerillas have killed two Afghan policemen in an attack on a police station in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an official says. The attack took place Saturday after a man carrying explosives attached to his body, entered a police station in Jalalabad and opened fire on officers inside the building. "Two policemen were killed and a third was wounded in the shooting,” Ahmad Zia, a spokesman for Nangarhar governor told Press TV's correspondent, adding that the police managed to kill the assailant before he could detonate his explosives.

#2: A roadside bomb killed six Afghan police, including a senior officer, in Baghlan province in central Afghanistan on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

#3: An explosion of a landmine killed six civilians in Helmand province in the south on Friday, the interior ministry said.


MoD: Serjeant Paul McAleese

MoD: Private Jonathon Young

DoD: Army 1st Sgt. Jose S.N. Crisostomo

DoD: Pfc. Brian M. Wolverton

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