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


Monday, October 4, 2010

War News for Monday, October 04, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Saturday, October 2nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, October 3rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, October 4th.


Iraq raises oil reserve estimate 24 pct

Iran to Host Joint Meeting with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon on Gas Exports

As Maliki Clings to Power, Iraq’s Fissures Deepen

Coming home a different person

Statue of King Tut's grandfather unearthed in Egypt


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bombing targeted the convoy of a deputy minister in Iraq's government on Monday, killing a bodyguard and wounding at least seven people, police officials said. The first explosion struck the convoy of Fouad Al-Moussawi, a deputy minister of sciences and technology, in an area of southeast Baghdad. Al-Moussawi was not harmed, but one of his security team was killed and four others were wounded, police officials said. Three civilians also were injured. Officials at Ibn Al-Nafess Hospital confirmed the police report.

#2: In a separate attack, an employee at Iraq's public works ministry was severely wounded after a bomb attached to his car exploded, police said. About two hours later, a bomb affixed to the car of the employee of the public works ministry went off in western Baghdad, leaving him with serious injuries, police and hospital officials said.

#3: Two civilians were wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb went off in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. “The blast took place today in al-Tayiaran Square, central Baghdad,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A roadside bomb targeting the convoy of police Brigadier Amir Hameed, embassy protection department of the Interior Ministry, wounded him and four others including two civilians in Karrada district of central Baghdad, police said.

#5: A sticky bomb attached to a car belonging to a police officer and parked in Baghdad's northwestern Hurriya district, exploded and wounded two passers-by on Sunday night, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: And in Diyala province, north of the capital, a bomb attack killed three people in the ethnically mixed town of Jalawlah, in a tract of disputed land claimed both by the autonomous Kurdistan region and Iraq's central government. An initial magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to a car, which appeared to be targeting Kurdish peshmerga security forces, detonated but did not cause any casualties, Diyala operations command said. When police arrived at the scene, a second bomb detonated, killing one two policemen and a civilian, and wounding 18 others, including 11 police.

#2: In a separate incident, a suicide bomber on his bike blew up his explosive vest early in the morning at a residential area in western Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, wounding three civilians, the source added. The suicide bomber apparently blew himself up prematurely as the police believe that he was targeting a security checkpoint located some 500 meters away from the site of the blast, he added.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two guards were wounded when unknown gunmen throw a grenade on the office of one of the Turkmen parties in central Kirkuk city. “The attack took place last night in the Mousili area, central Kirkuk,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Monday.


Mosul:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to the car of a civilian went off when an army vehicle was passing by, killing two Iraqi soldiers and wounding nine civilians in the south of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A gunman killed a university professor after storming his house in western Mosul, on Sunday, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A TV cameraman was killed on Monday when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off east of the Falluja city. “The blast occurred in the al-Garma district, east of Falluja,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Monday for a pre-dawn attack on tankers carrying fuel to Afghanistan for U.S. and other NATO forces, left vulnerable on the side of the road after Pakistan shut down a key border crossing. About a dozen militants peppered the vehicles parked at a truck stop on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad with automatic gunfire. Some 20 trucks went up in flames and four people were killed and seven injured, authorities said. Hours later, gunmen attacked and burned two other trucks carrying NATO supplies in southwest Pakistan, killing the driver.

#2: Three men have been allegedly killed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in North Waziristan, apparently in retaliation for the recent US drone strikes in the area. According to the Daily Times, the bullet-riddled bodies of the three men were found near Miran Shah-Dattakhel road on Sunday. A note under a rock next to the bodies said, "Anyone who dares spy for the Americans will meet the same fate."

#3: Security forces killed 18 people including 14 militants in Taliban hotbed Helmand province in south Afghanistan, police said Monday. "Security forces with the support of air power stormed a Taliban hideout in Kajaki Alya district Sunday as a result 18 people including 14 Taliban rebels and four civilians were killed," a senior police officer Kamaludin Khan told Xinhua.

#4: Meantime, locals say that NATO's aircraft stuck a house on Sunday where Taliban militants had meeting. On the other hand, a local who declined to be identified stressed that the strike injured eight civilians including two children and a woman and some of them had been taken to Kandahar' s Mir Wais hospital for medical treatment.

#5: In a related development, five more Taliban militants were killed and two others injured in clash with police in Khashrod district of the neighboring Nimroz province Monday, provincial police chief Abdul Jabar Puduli said.

#6: Conflict between Taliban militants and security forces left five insurgents dead and injured seven others in Wardak province 40 km west of Afghan capital Kabul, police said Monday. "The Taliban rebels attacked guards of a private security company who were escorting logistic convoy of NATO-led troops in Syedabad district Sunday evening and the guards returned fire killing five rebels," district police chief Haq Nawaz Haqyar told Xinhua. Seven more insurgents were killed in the firefight lasted for a while, he further said. He, however, did not identify the security company, adding there were no casualties on the guards of the security firm.


MoD: Rifleman Suraj Gurung

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