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, November 28, 2008

War News for Friday, November 28, 2008

CNN: Explosions heard at Mumbai hotel: death toll in the series of attacks that started Wednesday has gone up to 146....

NY Times: Eyewitness Updates: Nariman House: (I presume that this will be continuously updated until it's over.)

Military suffers cyber attack

Iraqi prisoners at risk under the Sofa:




Baghdad:
#1: An explosion occurred on Friday morning near a U.S. base in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, with no word on casualties, a security source said. “The blast took place near Sahet Hamza in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “U.S. forces sealed off the roads that lead to the area and prevented civilians from approaching it, while U.S. choppers were seen hovering over the region,” he added.

In Sadr City, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol wounded one person.

#2: Some 9,000 people protested in Baghdad's Shi'ite slum of Sadr City after Friday prayers, burning a U.S. flag and holding banners reading "No, no to the agreement." About 2,500 people held a similar rally in the southern city of Basra. "I express my condolences to the Iraqi people on this grave occasion, in which they are harmed by the ... pact of shame and degradation," Sadr, whose militia has fought U.S. troops many times, said in a statement read to followers on his behalf.

#3: Around 8 p.m. a suicide car bomb exploded in Al Tayaran square in central Baghdad killing two civilians and injuring 14 others.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: A booby trapped house, 6 miles south of Baquba, exploded as Iraqi army soldiers raided the house early this morning, two soldiers were killed and three were injured.

Khanaqin:
#1: Four Iraqi policemen were wounded on Friday when an improvised explosive device went off northeast of the city of Baaquba, an official security source in Diala said. “The IED targeted a police patrol inside al-Saadiya area, Khanaqin district, (155 km) northeast of Baaquba, leaving four policemen injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Musayyib:
#1: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in a line of Shiite worshippers near the entrance of a mosque south of Baghdad during Friday prayer services, killing at least nine people, Iraqi officials said. The attacker struck around noon while waiting in a line to be searched outside the mosque in Musayyib, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. Friday's suicide bomber struck a mosque run by al-Sadr loyalists in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad. The police officer said the nine killed included a woman who was begging nearby. Dr. Saad al-Janabi confirmed the casualty toll, saying 15 people also were wounded.


Dalouiya:
#1: Three policemen were wounded on Friday in a bomb explosion in central Dalouiya district in Salah el-Din province, a police source said. “Three policemen were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off targeting them in al-Jubur neighborhood in central Dalouiya,” Major Ali Hassan Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq.



Afghanistan:
#1: Unknown gunmen in Afghanistan are reported to have shot dead a former Taliban spokesman, Abdul Haq Haqiq, also known as Dr. Hanif.The shooting occurred overnight on November 27 in the Chaparhar district of eastern Nangarhar Province.Chaparhar district police chief Saied Muhammad Pahlawan told an RFE/RL correspondent that three of Haqiq's cousins were also killed in the shooting.

#2: Riots broke out in Kabul today after British soldiers opened fire on a minibus, leaving one civilian dead and three others wounded. Dozens of angry Afghans pelted police with stones before being chased down side streets. A senior officer later described the shooting as a 'misunderstanding'. 'The troops opened fire and killed one civilian and wounded three more.

#3: An Afghan official says that the Taliban have killed 13 Afghan troops and captured 16 others after an ambush in a northwestern province. Abdul Ghani Sabri says seven Taliban were also killed during the battle in Bala Murghab district of Badghis province on Thursday night. Sabri is the deputy provincial governor. He says a group of 300 Taliban attacked a joint Afghan army and police convoy in Akazai village, sparking a clash which lasted for several hours.
Sabri says 11 other Afghan troops were wounded.

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