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


Tuesday, June 8, 2010

War News for Tuesday, June 08, 2010

The French Defense Ministry is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier in a rocket attack in the Tagab valley, Kapisa province, Afghanistan on Monday, June 7th. Three other French soldiers were wounded from small arms fire in the same attack.

The Australian DoD is reporting the deaths of two Australian ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in the Mirabad Valley region, Oruzgan province, Afghanistan on Monday, June 7th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of five ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, June 7th. News reports these to be American soldiers.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, June 7th. News reports this is an American soldier.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, June 7th. News reports this is also an American soldier.

NATO is reporting the of deaths two ISAF soldiers from small arms fire in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 8th.

NATO is reporting the of death an ISAF soldier from small arms fire in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 8th.


Karzai’s Isolation Worries Afghans and the West:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three gunmen were killed on Monday in an explosion in western Baghdad, an official spokesman of the Baghdad Operations Command said. “A force from the 24th brigade of the Iraqi army raided a house, used by terrorists as a hideout in al-Zuweitat region in Abi Gharieb region, western Baghdad,” General Qassem Atta told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two persons were killed and seven more were wounded in an improvised explosive device explosion in southwestern Baghdad, a security source said on Monday. “The bomb exploded targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Bayaa region in southwestern Baghdad, near al-Salam residential compound, killing a cop and a civilian and injuring seven, including three policemen and four civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: One Iraqi officer was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in central Baghdad on Tuesday. “The officer is captain, and works for the oil establishments’ protection squad,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Jurf al Sakhr
#1: Three civilians were killed and one was injured when militants attacked a passenger car in the area of Jarf al-Sakhr in the city of al-Halla, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad. Also in Jarf al-Sakhr, a Sahwa (Awakening) movement leader and government official survived an assassination attempt when a bomb targeting his convoy exploded. Sabah al-Janabi and three of his companions were wounded in the attack, police said.


Babel Prv:
#1: A district manager in Babel province and three of his guards were all wounded on Tuesday when they came under gunmen’s fire northwest of Hilla city. “The gunmen were driving a car when they opened fire targeting the district manager’s motorcade, 55 km northwest of Hilla,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Wassit Prv:
#1: A Sunni mosque’s Imam and his two sons were wounded on Tuesday when they came under gunmen’s fire in northern Wassit province. “The gunmen used pistols to launch the attack after today’s dawn prayers, 135 km north of Kut city,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Also among the dead was a Christian man, shot 15 times in a drive-by attack on a street in the northern city of Kirkuk.


Kurdistan:
#1: Turkish warplanes bombed Monday several Kurdish rebel positions in neighbouring northern Iraq, the NTV news channel reported, amid an upsurge in unrest between troops and the outlawed group. Six combat planes targeted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases in Zap-Khakurk in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish zone, the channel said, citing the Internet site of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The Turkish military did not immediately comment on the air strikes.


Mosul:
#1: One policeman was killed and two soldiers injured in clashes between militants and a joint Iraqi police and army task force in the districts of al-Intisar and Sumer in the northern city of Mosul.

#2: Separately, a woman and a young man were shot and killed by militants in Mosul's Yarmuk district. Police chased the militants, killing two of them. The rest escaped.

#3: The body of an unidentified 19 year old male with bullet wounds was found in the area of al-Wahda, also in Mosul, police sources said.


#4: A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol, wounding a soldier, a woman and a girl in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#5: A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in eastern Mosul, wounding a woman, police said.


Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: update - The American police trainer and a Nepalese security guard were killed when a team of three suicide bombers attacked the main gates of the police training centre in the southern city of Kandahar, US officials said. Afghan officials said one bomber blew a hole in the outer wall, enabling the two others to rush inside, where they were killed in a gun battle. Afghan officials said three police were wounded.

#2: Three Dutch soldiers were injured in a blast in southern Afghanistan on Monday evening, the Dutch Ministry of Defense confirmed on early Tuesday. The explosion happened in the Deh Reshan area, approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of Camp Holland. “The three were brought here for treatment in the Role 2 field hospital,” a defense statement said. “Their condition is stable.”

#3: Three civilians were killed and five others were wounded in two separate roadside bomb attacks in southern Uruzgan province on Monday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

#4: Five guards from an Afghan security firm were killed and four others were wounded when their vehicles struck two homemade bombs in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

#5: Two Afghan security guards were killed and two others were wounded when insurgents ambushed in Ghazni province on Monday, the Interior Ministry said

#6: Afghan forces backed by NATO-led troops during an overnight operation against Taliban hideout eliminated more than a dozen militants in Taliban hotbed Kandahar province, provincial administration said in a statement on Tuesday. "The combined forces launched an assault against Taliban positions in Zanton area of Mianshin district Monday night killing 14 insurgents," the statement said, adding that six more militants were injured during the operation.

#7: In a separate incident, according to the statement, a child was killed and another child was injured as a roadside bomb went off in Arghandab district of Kandahar province on the same day Monday.


DoD: 1st Lt. Joseph J. Theinert

DoD: Sgt. Brandon C. Bury

DoD: Lance Cpl. Derek Hernandez

DoD: Cpl. Donald M. Marler

AG/DoD: Sapper Jacob Moerland

AG/DoD: Sapper Darren Smith

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gunmen have attacked a Nato convoy near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, killing at least seven people and setting several vehicles on fire.

The overnight assault took place 10km (six miles) outside the city - the closest such attack yet to the capital.

Up to a dozen militants opened fire, setting 20 trucks alight and destroying millions of dollars of equipment.

Meanwhile heavy fighting has taken place in the north-west between militants and the army.

Anonymous said...

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO says a helicopter has gone down in southern Afghanistan and there is no immediate word on casualties.
Spokesman Sgt. Kevin Bell said the aircraft went down Wednesday in Helmand province but that few other details were available.
A spokesman for the provincial government, Dawood Ahmadi, said the aircraft went down in Sangin district after taking ground fire.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9G7MM1G0