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


Tuesday, July 14, 2009

War News for Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The AFP is reporting the death of an Italian ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing near Farah Province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 14th. Three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting the deaths of two U.S. Marines in a "hostile incident" in Helmand Prrvince, Afghanistan on Monday, July 13th.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from a medical condition in an unreported area of Iraq on Monday, July 13th.


July 13 airpower summary:

Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan:

Moldova helicopter on NATO contract shot down in Afghanistan.
Some, but not all, of a six-man crew of Ukrainian nationals died in the morning incident, according to statement from the Chisinau air charter company Pecotox-Airi. A missile or rocket caused the crash, according to the report.

C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders:

Sandstorm grounds US military boss in Iraq:

23 militants dead in clashes in NW Pakistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The two police officers were shot dead while on patrol by armed men in the centre of the Iraqi capital, an interior ministry official said. One of the gunmen was killed in the attack.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In a town east of Baquba, meanwhile, a police officer's nephew was kidnapped and executed, a security official said.

#2: A gunman was wounded on Monday while planting an improvised explosive device in a village of the district of al-Saadiya, southern Diala province, a local security source said. “The gunman was wounded while planting his explosive charge in Hamrin village, north of Saadiya, (35 km) south of Khanaqin district,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Three civilians were wounded on Monday when two improvised explosive devices went off near a bridal procession in Baaquba city, an official security source in Diala said. “Two IEDs went off near a procession of several vehicles carrying well-wishers for a wedding party on the main street in New Baaquba neighborhood, central Baaquba, wounding three civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Police forces on Tuesday found an unknown body in a village near Baaquba, according to a local security source. “The corpse, found in Sharwin village, Shahraban district (45 km northeast of Baaquba), bore signs of gunshot wounds and was taken to the morgue,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The age of the victim ranges from 25 to 30 years. He is believed to have been killed during the past two days,” the source noted.


Mosul:
#1: "Last night, gunmen opened fire on a taxi driver inside a garage in al-Abaar neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Unknown gunmen shot down a civilian in Tal al-Romman area, western Mosul,” according to the same source.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An oil tanker carrying supplies for NATO forces caught fire on Monday when it was caught in an explosion in Hayatabad, police said.

#2: Also on Monday, an unidentified man shot Sub-Inspector Ijaz Haideri in the Kohati Gate area when he was walking to work. His son, Ali, told police at Shah Qabool Police Station that he had seen a man carrying a pistol running away from the scene.

#3: A government official says 23 militants were killed in clashes with a pro-government tribal militia in northwest Pakistan. Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior local administrator, said Tuesday the clashes took place in the village of Ambar in the Mohmand region, part of the lawless tribal belt along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Jan said that four members of the tribal militia were wounded in the clashes, which began late Monday and continued through Tuesday morning.

#4: Separately, a roadside blast Tuesday hit a civilian vehicle in Uruzgan, another southern province, killing three people and wounded six others, according to an Interior Ministry statement. It said all the victims were civilians.

#5: Eight inmates, seven of them Taliban prisoners, escaped from a provincial prison after attacking guards in Zabul province in the south of the country on Monday night, senior police officer Ghulam Jailani said. A hunt for them was under way.

#6: Taliban insurgents killed an Afghan army soldier in the southwestern Bala Murghab district on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.

#7: Afghan soldiers killed an insurgent, returning fire in the Musa Qala district of Helmand Province on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.

#8: Afghan soldiers killed two Taliban militants and wounded three more when firing artillary at a militant position in the Rashidan district of Ghazni province on Monday night, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

#9: Afghan security forces identified and shot dead a suicide car bomber attempting to enter an Afghan army outpost in the southern Dand district on Monday, the Defence Ministry said. Six Afghan soldiers and an interpreter were wounded when the explosives in the car went off, it said

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