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


Friday, July 8, 2011

War News for Friday, July 08, 2011

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of Two U.S. Iraqi soldiers from an IED blast near camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, July 7th. However, other reports do say that two U.S. soldiers were killed near Camp Victory. Update by Cervantes. Not clear if there were separate incidents or WaPo is mistaken?.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 7th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen wounded a soldier when they opened fire on an army checkpoint in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district late on Thursday, a military source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Diyala, a member of the awakening council was killed in an armed attack, southern Baaquba.


Wassit Prv:
#1: The US Army Delta base in central Waset came under missile attack, a police source from Waset Province said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car shot at and wounded a policeman standing by a stationary police patrol in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol and wounded four people, including one policeman, in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A parked car bomb near a primary school wounded 10 civilians when it exploded late on Thursday in southern Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

Three Iraqi civilians were killed and six others were wounded including four policemen in a car bomb explosion in Al Shohadaa’ District, southern Fallujah, in Anbar, a security source told Alsumaria.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and Nato-led troops fired rockets into Pakistan's northwest tribal region of North Waziristan on Friday, causing no injuries, local TV channel reported. Residents were quoted as saying that around 18 mortar shells landed near a Pakistani checkpost at Ghulam Khan border area, adding Pakistani force returned fire.

#2: Pakistani artillery pounded militant hideouts in the Kurram tribal region on the Afghan border, killing 11 militants and destroying three of their bases, security officials said. Nearly 50 militants have been killed in a military operation launched this week.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton

DoD: Spc. Jordan C. Schumann

DoD: Spc. Preston J. Suter

Posted by whisker at 3:26 AM

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