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, September 9, 2010

War News for Thursday, September 09, 2010

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


Nato is losing the war in Afghanistan: Mullah Omar

Afghanistan options are running out

Kabul Bank's Dubai connection

4 Al-Qaida-Linked Prisoners On The Lam In Iraq

NATO Drive on Kandahar Begins, With Mixed Results

Suicide attack in Russia kills 15, wounds over 130


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: “A car bomb went off on Thursday (Sept. 9) in al-Mushahda region, northern Baghdad, killing three persons, including a soldier, and wounding 10, including four army soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “An explosive charge went off near al-coholic beverages store in Bab al-Muaatham region, central Baghdad, causing some material damage,” he said.

#3: A suicide car bomber targeting an Iraqi army convoy killed three people, including one soldier, and wounded ten others, including four soldiers, in Mashahidah on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A mosque’s imam was killed on Thursday in east of Baaquba by gunmen, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked the house of Sensel mosque’s Imam, Sheikh Abduljabbar Faleh al-Juburi, in al-Muqdadiya district, east of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that they slaughtered him in one of the house’s rooms.

#2: “An explosive device exploded this morning targeting a police vehicle patrol in Khanaqin district, northeast of Baaquba, without causing casualties,” the same source added.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: “Unknown gunmen stormed the house of a policeman in Abu Gharieb region, western Baghdad, where they shot and killed him,” he added.


Kirkuk:
#1: the second blast took place at 9:15 am at the same place (al Zab), killing three policemen and a Sahwa fighter and wounding seven people.


Mosul:
#1: Two policemen and one civilian were wounded on Wednesday in a grenade attack in western Mosul city. “A gunman threw a grenade on an Iraqi police checkpoint in the al-Borsa area, western Mosul, wounding two cops and one civilian,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Three persons, from the same family, were wounded on Wednesday when a mortar shell hit their house in eastern Mosul, a security source said. “A mortar shell hit on Wednesday (Sept. 8) a house in al-Bekr neighborhood, eastern Mosul, near an army checkpoint, injuring a woman and her son and daughter, who were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Five civilians were wounded on Thursday by a hand grenade in central Mosul, according to a security source. “A hand grenade went off on Thursday morning (Sept. 9) targeting a police vehicle patrol in a market in al-Sergkhana region, central Mosul, wounding five civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: An Iraqi soldier and a gunman were killed Tuesday in a security raid in south of Mosul, according to a security source. “An Iraqi soldier and a gunman were killed on Thursday morning (Sept. 9) during a raid of a force from the 2nd division of the Iraqi army in al-Imam village in western al-Qayara district, south of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces arrested four gunmen during the operation,” he added, without giving further details.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An Iraqi police officer has escaped an assassination attempt in Amiriyat al-Falluja city in western Iraq’s Anbar Province on Wednesday, when a cluster bomb blew up in his car on Wednesday, wounding two Iraqi soldiers, according to a security source in Falluja city. “The police officer had discovered a strange device in his car, jumped out of the car, and when an expert Iraqi Army unit tried to dismantle the explosive device, it blew up, wounding two soldiers and causing severe damage to the car and another civilian car,” the source said.

#2: A policeman and his son were killed and a civilian was wounded in a sticky bomb blast in eastern Falluja, a police source said on Wednesday. “The bomb, stuck to the cop’s car, went off in al-Karma district in eastern Falluja, killing him and his son and wounding a civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suspected American missile strike killed five alleged militants in northwestern Pakistan early Thursday, an intelligence official said, the fourth such attack on suspected insurgent targets there in 24 hours. The barrage was one of the most intense since the attacks were stepped up more than two years ago in a bid to keep pressure on al-Qaida and its allies. Most are believed to be fired from unmanned, remote-controlled planes that can hover for hours above the area. The latest attack took place before dawn on a house close to a disused match factory a little more than a mile (three kilometers) west of Miran Shah town, a hub for local and international militants in the North Waziristan region, an intelligence official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the policy of his agency. Five alleged militants were killed, he said.

#2: On Thursday, 10 people were killed close to the Afghan border in Kurram region when a roadside bomb hit the bus they were traveling in, said local government official Noor Ahmed. It was unclear why — or whether — the vehicle was targeted.

#3: Another explosion took place outside the house of a provincial minister in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Baluchistan province, killing three people, said city police chief Abid Hussain Nothkani. He did not speculate on who might be responsible.


DoD: Cpl. Philip G. E. Charte

1 comments:

Cervantes said...

Hoo boy. This will go over well in connection with Burn a Koran Day.

"Twelve U.S. soldiers face a variety of charges in what military authorities believe was a conspiracy to murder Afghan civilians and cover it up, along with charges they used hashish, mutilated corpses and kept grisly souvenirs.

Five soldiers face murder charges, while seven others are charged with participating in a coverup. All of the men were members of a 2nd Infantry Division brigade operating near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.

According to the military documents, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs and four other soldiers were involved in throwing grenades at civilians and then shooting them in separate incidents. Three Afghan men died.

Authorities allege Gibbs kept finger bones, leg bones and a tooth from Afghan corpses. Another soldier, Spc. Michael Gagnon II, allegedly kept a skull from a corpse, according to charging documents. Several soldiers are charged with taking pictures of the corpses, and one - Spc. Corey Moore - with stabbing a corpse. "