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 10, 2009

War News for Friday, July 10, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier after being found unresponsive in an undisclosed base on Wednesday, July 8th.

The British MoD is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an explosion near Nad e-Ali, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 9th.

The British MoD is reporting another death of an ISAF soldier in a small arms attack/gunshot wound near Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 9th.

The DoD is reporting a death previously unreported by the military. Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Darren Ethan Tate died of non-hostile causes at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, July 8th.

Lisburn man killed in Iraq accident:


Gunmen attack police post in Tajikistan:

Kurds Defy Baghdad, Laying Claim to Land and Oil:

Premier U.S. Fighter Jet Has Major Shortcomings:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: In further attacks on Thursday, nine people were killed and 35 wounded when two bombs went off around a public market in Adhamiyah, a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad.

Nine civilians were killed and 32 others wounded Thursday evening when two improvised explosive devices went off consecutively in northern Baghdad, a security source said. “Two IEDs went off with short interval between them near al-Kashafa playground in al-Kisra area, northern Baghdad, leaving nine civilians killed and 32 others wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The first blast was caused by an IED inside a wooden cart, followed by a second one planted on the road where the first explosion took place,” he added.


Basra:
#1: U.S. Forces respond to rocket attack in Basra province. Explosions were heard in the vicinity of a Coalition Patrol Base at approximately 1:49 p.m. Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 10th Calvary Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were contacted to investigate the cause of the explosion.


Kirkuk:
#1: One man was killed and three others, including two policemen, wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in southern Kirkuk city on Thursday, a local police source said. “The IED ripped through an outdoor souk (market) in the area of Raas Dumez, southern Kirkuk, leaving one person killed and three others, two of them belong to the Emergency Police Department, wounded,” Lt. Colonel Kamel Ahmed, the assistant chief of al-Midqad police, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The charge targeted a police patrol just as it was passing near the souk,” Ahmed said, not giving further information.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A car bomb on Thursday went off near the headquarters of the Abu Risha Emergency Contingent in southern al-Ramadi city, leaving four people wounded, a local police source said. “An explosive vehicle blew up near the Abu Risha Emergency Contingent in southern Ramadi, leaving four persons wounded in an initial count of casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani jet aircraft and helicopter gunships targeted Taliban positions Thursday in Orakzai, a relatively peaceful district in the country's lawless tribal region littered with Taliban sanctuaries. The raids flattened three houses used by the local militants as their centre in the Ferozkhel area, killing at least 18 insurgents, an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

#2: Attack helicopters from the military also pounded Taliban hideouts in three other villages in the district. "Eleven militants were killed and several were wounded," the official said.

#3: Separately, three civilian died when a truck was hit by a roadside bomb in the north-western town of Hangu, located close to Orakzai. The truck was carrying food supplies for troops stationed in the neighbouring Kurram tribal district.

#4: Elsewhere in the troubled region, four policemen were killed late Thursday when insurgents attacked a security checkpoint near Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district on the Afghan border, another security official said. The checkpoint was destroyed in the attack.

#5: Two civilians were wounded when a shell exploded in a scrap metal shop in southern Zabul province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

#6: U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed several Taliban insurgents and detained four during a raid on a compound in the same district of Ghazni overnight, the U.S. military said in a statement. One insurgent was wounded, it said.

#7: Six Taliban were killed and one policeman was wounded when militants attacked a government building in Ghazni's Arjestan district overnight, a local official said.

#8: A roadside bomb killed one civilian in Helmand's Gereshk district on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.

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