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, December 12, 2009

War News for Saturday, December 12, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier from non-combat related injuries in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Friday, December 11th.

There were no ISAF fatalities in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan.


C.I.A. Drops a Contractor: Blackwater

Pakistan PM says South Waziristan offensive over:

Pakistan plans new anti-militant front:

BBC: Fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three persons were killed and six others wounded when two improvised explosive devices went off south of Baghdad on Friday, the Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement. “The two explosive charges ripped through the area of al-Qora Ghoul, south of Baghdad, leaving three people killed and six others wounded,” read the BOC statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The two blasts occurred nearly at the same time,” it added, not giving further information about the incident.

#2: A magnetic bomb stuck to the car of a police captain exploded in Zayuna neighborhood causing severe injuries to the captain around 6 p.m. Friday.

#3: A roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. military Humvee vehicle, police said. A U.S. military official said three U.S. soldiers were wounded in the incident in north Baghdad.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Diyala, a farmer was killed and two others were injured when unknown gunmen opened fire on them at a ranch near the town of Khalis, some 70 km northeast of Baghdad, an anonymous provincial police source told Xinhua.

#2: In separate incident, a woman was shot dead at another ranch near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source said, adding that Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene and detained an armed suspect.

#3: Also in Diyala, two people, including an old man, were critically injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them at the al-Dojma village some 75 km north of Baquba, the source added.


Hilla:
#1: A civilian man was wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast north of al-Hilla city on Friday, a local police source in Babel said. “An IED attached to a water tanker went off in al-Mahawil district, (16 km) north of Hilla, leaving its driver wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Yuosifiyah:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded in central Yousifiyah town, south of Baghdad. After the explosion police and army units responded and as their vehicles approaching the site, a parked car bomb detonated killing two policemen and four civilians and injuring two policemen and two soldiers and 17 civilians 5 p.m. Friday.


Hawija:
#1: In a separate incident, a source from the Kirkuk Joint Coordination Center (JCC) told Aswat al-Iraq that a rocket was fired from within the district of al-Huweija, (65 km) southwest of Kirkuk, but no reports on the spot where it landed.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi police patrol in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing three policemen and wounding four others, police said. The blast targeted the patrol of emergency forces in al-Khadra area of central Kirkuk.

#2: An Iraqi soldier was wounded when his vehicle came under unidentified gunmen fire in southwestern Kirkuk city on Friday, according to an officer in al-Muqdad police station. “Gunmen in a driving by vehicle opened fire at a soldier of the Iraqi army’s 12th Division at al-Ihtifalat Square, southwestern Kirkuk, leaveing the soldier wounded,” Ghazi Ali told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The soldier, a driver of the Iraqi army’s 4th Contingent commander, was in a critical condition after the attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” Ali added.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in western Mosul city on Saturday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “The IED went off near a federal police patrol in the area of al-Zanjili, western Mosul, leaving one policeman in the patrol wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An Iraqi soldier was wounded in an explosion in west Mosul, located 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops during a joint operation in Paktia province east of Afghanistan eliminated an insurgent and arrested another on Saturday, an ISAF statement said. "An Afghan-international security force killed an enemy militant and detained another in the Paktia province while pursuing a Taliban commander responsible for several attacks in the area today," the statement added.

#2: Three Taliban insurgents were killed as their mine exploded prematurely in Helmand province south of Afghanistan, a local official said Saturday. "Three rebels were busy in planting a mine on a road in Gereshk district Friday evening to target security forces but their mine exploded killing all the trio on the spot," governor of Gereshk district Abdul Ahad Khan told Xinhua.

#3: Unknown armed men gunned down an officer worked for Counter-Terrorist department in Taliban birthplace Kandahar south of Afghanistan on Saturday, police said. "Ghulam Sakhi, an officer of Counter-Terrorist Department, was in a shop in Kandahar city today when unknown armed men opened fire and killed him on the spot," deputy to provincial police chief Mohammad Shah Farooqi told Xinhua.

#4: At least 25 militants were killed in northwest Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border during clashes with the security forces on Saturday, reported local TV channels. The reports said at least 10 militants were killed in Khyber tribal agency and 15 miscreants were killed while 17 others injured in nearby Kurram agency during fierce clashes with the army on Saturday morning. According to security forces sources, the offensive took place as militants launched gun attack on security forces convoy but during retaliatory action, 15 militants were killed and 17 others were wounded. At least three security men were killed while eight others seriously injured in a clash between security forces and militants in center Kurram, Geo news reported.


DoD: Sgt. Ralph Anthony Webb Frietas

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