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, February 16, 2008

War News for Saturday, February 16, 2008

Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: An armed group suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda network attacked a checkpoint of the Iraqi army's 5th Division in al-Mafraq neighborhood, central Baaquba, killing a soldier," the source, who did not want to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Buhrez:
#1: the same source added, an "improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Buhrez district, (5 km) south of Baaquba, near a police vehicle, wounding two policemen."


Mahaweel:
#1: A child was wounded when he picked up a roadside bomb on Friday in Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Hilla:
#1: A body was found with gunshot wounds just east of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: In Basra, some 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, two police officers were wounded when militants opened fire on an Iraqi patrol, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Militants escaped after opening fire on the patrol in the al- Jumhuria district of Basra, sources said.

#2: Meanwhile, another police officer survived an explosion uninjured in Basra.


Samarra:
#1: Gunmen killed a member of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol in central Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two policemen were wounded in a car bomb explosion that targeted a police patrol in southern Kirkuk, an official security source said on Saturday. "A car bomb was remotely detonated in Kirkuk's southern area of Tiseen, wounding two policemen and causing damage to their vehicle and nearby stores," the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq, Voices of Iraq.

#2: A policeman was wounded when an improvised explosive device went off near his foot patrol in eastern Kirkuk on Saturday, a police source said."An IED went off near a foot patrol of the Kirkuk Emergency Police Department in the area of al-Shurjah, eastern Kirkuk, wounding a policeman," the source, who refused to have his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.


Al Anbar Prv:
Ramadi:
#1: "The Ramadi police found five bodies showing signs of having been tortured and killed at an uninhabited area east of Ramadi," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq


Casualty Reports:

Russ Marek was serving in Iraq with the Army's 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, when he was critically wounded Sept. 16, 2005, in a roadside bombing. He lost his right arm and right leg and suffered a brain injury and burns over 20 percent of his body.

Corp. Wesley Barrientos was severely wounded in the War in Iraq. he lost both legs in a roadside explosion while fighting the War in Iraq.

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