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


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

War News for Wednesday, June 22, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, June 21st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 22nd.


For Soldiers, Death Sees No Gender Lines


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A parked car bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing one passer-by and wounding nine other people, including three policemen, in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#2: Two roadside bombs struck a convoy carrying a local police chief, wounding him and five other policemen, along with two passers-by, in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: Two people were wounded by a roadside bomb in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#4: A bomb targeting a police traffic patrol wounded five people, including two traffic policemen, in the eastern Baghdad district of Zayouna, an Interior Ministry source said.

#5: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded three people, including one policeman, in the southern Jadiriya district of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#6: A state bank official escaped injury when a bomb attached to his car exploded in Baghdad's northern Waziriya district, an Interior Ministry source said.

#7: Five rockets were fired at a joint Iraqi-U.S. military base in the Baladiyat district of eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Two of the rockets hit the base and three fell outside, wounding three civilians, the source said. The U.S. military said 10 mortars were fired but none hit the base and no casualties were reported.


Amarra:
#1: The U.S. forces in Iraq announced today that an armed group targeted Iraqi forces stationed in Betaira airport, near Amara city, with mortar shells. In a statement issued by the southern command of U.S. armed forces in Basrah, as received by Aswat al-iraq, it noted that the shells fell on the Tenth Division of the Iraqi forces stationed near the airport. The statement added that there were no casualties.


Samarra:
#1: A roadside bomb went off after a U.S. military convoy passed by, wounding a civilian, in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: The Mayor of Dibbis township in north Iraq’s Kirkuk Province has escaped an assassination attempt on Tuesday, a Kirkuk security source said. “The Mayor of Dibbis township of Kirkuk Province, Hadi Ghazi, has escaped an assassination attempt today (Tuesday), when an explosive charge stuck to his car, blew off in front of his house, causing him no harm, but damaged his car,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A mortar round fired at the Nineveh province security operations centre missed the target and struck a house, killing one person and wounding another, in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen attacked a security checkpoint and killed a policeman in western Mosul, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one passer-by and wounded two other people, including a policeman, in central Mosul, police said.

#4: Gunmen threw a hand grenade at a police patrol, wounding four people, including a policeman, in southwestern Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Six Afghan police were killed Wednesday when Taliban attacked their checkpoint. The attack started at around 7 a.m. local time and six police officers were killed during a gunfight with the attackers," Sayed Amir Shah, the head of Afghanistan's intelligence agency in Ghazni province, told AFP. "The gunfire is still ongoing," Shah said.

#2: At least one security person was killed and three others were injured Wednesday morning in a bomb attack at a checkpost in Jamrud, a main town in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Khyber Agency, reported local Urdu TV channel Geo. According to the the report, the attack took place at about 9:00 a.m. local time when an unknown number of militants launched an attack at a checkpost in Jamrud, a city located to the eastern part of Khyber Agency which borders Afghanistan. Other details about the attack are not immediately available.

#3: Earlier Wednesday morning, at about 3:00 a.m. local time, five militants were killed in an attack at a checkpost in Peshawar, the largest city in northwest Pakistan, according to local media reports.

#4: A suicide bomber killed six policemen near a police post in the Qarabagh district of central Ghazni province, Ghazni police chief Zelawar Zahid said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

#5: Two insurgents were killed by Afghan and ISAF troops in the Alingar district of eastern Laghman province on Tuesday, ISAF said in a statement.


DoD: Pfc. Gustavo A. Rios-Ordonez

DoD: Sgt. James W. Harvey II

0 comments: