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


Thursday, May 28, 2009

War News for Thursday, May 28, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the death of an ISAF Marine at Selly Oak Hospital, England on Wednesday, May 27th. The Marine was wounded by a roadside bombing near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, May 22nd.

The BBC is reporting the death of a second British ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing near Garmsir in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Thursday, May 28th


May 26 airpower summary:

2 killed in helicoptercrash in Hawaii:

Deadliest month in Iraq since Sept. 2008:

Forces welcome recruitment rise:

Report: Iraq prisoner abuse photos depict torture, rape:


Reported Security incidents:

Diwaniya:
#1: A member of the Diwaniya provincial council was killed on Thursday by unknown gunmen in north of Diwaniya, a police source said. “Unidentified armed men on Thursday morning (May 28) killed Jawad Khaled Gayad, a member of the Diwaniya council, in al-Sanieh district in north of Diwaniya,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Northern Iraq:
#1: Turkish warplanes attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Thursday, the military said, hours after a land mine blast on the Turkish side of the border killed six soldiers. A military statement said the jets targeted a "crowded group" of rebels in the Iraqi border region of Avasin-Basyan before safely returning to bases in Turkey. There was no information on any casualties.


Mosul:
#1: Three civilians were wounded on Thursday in a bomb explosion in northern Mosul, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off Thursday (May 28) targeting a motorcade of the Ninewa council in al-Jameaa neighborhood in northern Mosul, injuring three civilians from the same family, including a 3-year-old child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Afghan official and the U.S. military say joint security forces in southeastern Afghanistan have attacked a gathering of militants, but there are conflicting reports about how many people were killed. A spokesman for the governor of Paktika province on Thursday said Afghan police and NATO troops launched a ground operation and air strikes in Wor Mamay district near the Pakistani border overnight, killing 34 Taliban militants. A U.S military spokesman confirmed the battle but said 29 insurgents had been killed. He said one soldier from the NATO-led coalition was wounded in the operation.

#2: Ten insurgents were killed in a clash with police on Wednesday in northwestern Badghis province after staging an attack on a government building, the interior ministry said.

#3: Insurgents killed four employees of a demining agency in an ambush on Thursday in western Herat province, a provincial police officer said.

#4: Afghan police killed three militants during a clash on Wednesday in southern Kandahar province, the ministry separately said. One police officer was killed in the encounter.

#5: Four Taliban fighters were killed on Wednesday after they attacked police posts in western Farah province, the interior ministry said. One police officer was wounded.

#6: Four Taliban militants were killed in a clash after they ambushed a security firm convoy in the Arzoo area of Ghazni province on Wednesday, a provincial official said. One member of the company was hurt in the incident, he added.

#7: Separately on Thursday, two members of a security firm were killed and two wounded in a Taliban ambush in Qarabagh district of Ghanzi. One Afghan Army soldier was also killed and two more wounded in a clash with insurgents.

#8: Insurgents on Wednesday killed two influential figures from Ghazni province, which lies to the southwest of Kabul, after they were accused of siding with the government, the Interior Ministry said, without identifying the victims.

#9: Five civilians and one foreign soldier were wounded on Wednesday in a suicide car bomb attack in Ghazni, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

#10: An Afghan army soldier was killed and three were hurt during an operation in southern Uruzgan province, the Interior Ministry said.

#11: In last 24 hours, seven militants were killed in Pakistan's northwest, said the military in a press release Thursday.

#12: A convoy of eight army trucks carrying relief and food destined for Chakdarra, Barikot and Mingora got ambushed near Landa Kai near Barikot, according to the military. Four security forces personnel were killed in the incident, it said. Despite that, the relief goods were distributed among stranded people of Mingora, the main city and Taliban stronghold in Swat.

#13: Several people were feared dead as a house collapsed following a huge blast Thursday at a southwestern Pakistani town of Sui. The official APP news agency quoted police sources as saying that unknown miscreants had planted explosive materials along the boundary wall of the residence of Wadera Mian Khan Bugti, a local tribal elder, which exploded with a loud bang resulting in instant collapse of the house. Six people including women and children are reported to have been buried under the rubble of the house.

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