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 21, 2010

War News for Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Australian DoD is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing in the Baluchi Valley, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan on Friday, August 20th. Two additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The police found the body of an employee of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in al-Hurriya town in northern Baghdad on Friday, a security source said. “Kareem Abdullah was found dead inside his vehicle trunk in the area of al-Dawlaie, al-Hurriya, northern Baghdad. The body, which showed signs of having been shot, was removed to a morgue for autopsy,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A police lieutenant colonel was killed in an armed attack in western Baghdad, a local police source said on Saturday. “Unknown gunmen last night used guns with silencers to attack the officer while he was driving in al-Harthiya neighborhood, western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: In a separate incident, the same source said that a civilian was wounded in blast in southern Baghdad. “One civilian was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in al-Saydiya neighborhood, southern Baghdad,” the source said, giving no more details.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a government-backed Sahwa militia leader in western Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, on Friday evening, police said


Nassiriya:
#1: A roadside bomb on Saturday dawn hit a convoy of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T) northwestern the al-Nasseriya city, causing no casualties or damage. “The attack occurred at the al-Chibiesh Intersection, northwestern al-Nassiriya,” a local provincial source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: A U.S. vehicle patrol was attacked on Friday by a thermal bomb in central Kirkuk, without casualties, according to a senior security source. “Unknown gunmen threw a thermal bomb on Friday afternoon (Aug. 20) on a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Khadraa neighborhood, central Kirkuk,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces was distributing food and aids to poor families in al-Khadraa neighborhood,” he added.

#2: An asayesh (Kurdish security forces) soldier and a gunman were wounded during an operation to arrest the latter in southwestern Kirkuk city on Friday, according to the asayesh assistant director. “A group of asayesh soldiers attempted to arrest a member of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq in 1 Huzayran neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk, but he opened fire on them, wounding an asayesh soldier,” Brig. Salar Khalid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The soldiers fired back, wounding and arresting the gunman,” he added.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at an Iraqi police checkpoint, killing one policeman and wounding another, in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO says coalition forces have accidentally killed three Afghan policemen in a friendly fire incident in northern Afghanistan. NATO said Saturday that Afghan security forces, who were under fire from an unknown number of insurgents, called for air support Friday in Jowzjan province. It said two helicopters responded and fired a hellfire missile and 30 millimeter rounds. NATO said an investigation of the site later showed that three members of the Afghan National Police were accidentally killed and several more were wounded by the air weapons team.

#2: A bomb blast killed six anti-Taliban militia fighters in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Saturday and wounded five others, officials said. The remote controlled attack hit a checkpoint manned by volunteers from an anti-Taliban militia in Mohmand, a tribal district close to the Afghan border and about 80 kilometres from Peshawar, an official said. "It was a remote control bomb, six volunteers of anti-Taliban peace committee have been killed and five wounded," Maqsud Hasan, a senior government official in Mohmand told AFP by telephone.

#3: Taliban insurgents kidnapped a district chief in eastern Kunar province on Friday, senior police official Abdul Mateen said.

#4: ISAF and Afghan troops killed four insurgents and detained several others during operations in northern Kunduz province on Friday, ISAF said.


DoD: Sgt. Martin A. Lugo

DoD: Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Collin Thomas

DoD: Cpl. Christopher J. Boyd

DoD: Lance Cpl. Cody S. Childers

AU/DoD: Private Tomas Dale

AU/DoD: Private Grant Kirby

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

U.S. ambassador: Iraq elections a turning point for democracy ...28 Mar 2010 ... The top US envoy to Iraq said Sunday that the results of the recent Iraqi national election mark a turning point for democracy there, ...
www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/.../iraq.elections.../index.html - Cachedhttp://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/.../iraq.elections.../index.html
www.cnn.com

Dancewater said...

There are a lot of 'turning points' when you are lost in a maze.

Cervantes said...

I can't allow unexplained Youtube links. I don't have time to check them out. If you want to post a YouTube link, please describe it.