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, March 9, 2010

War News for Tuesday, March 09, 2010

The AP is reporting the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in a vehicle accident in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Monday, March 8th. Two additional soldiers were wounded in the incident.


Turkish soldier killed in explosion near Iraq border:

Region Unimpressed by Balloting in Iraq:

Zabul province seeks U.S. troops, but is caught in Afghan numbers game:

Report: Turkey to again mediate Syria-Israel talks:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off on Monday in northern Baghdad without causing any casualties, a police source said. “The bomb went off on al-Dubat street in al-Aadhamiya neighborhood, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion caused material damage to a number of nearby civilian vehicles,” he added.


Al Rashad:
#1: A police director in Kirkuk has survived an assassination attempt when unknown gunmen attacked his motorcade in the city, a local police chief said on Tuesday. “This morning, unknown gunmen attacked a motorcade carrying the director of al-Rashad district (35 km southwest of Kirkuk), Captain Ahmed Abdulghafoor, in al-Nidaa neighborhood, wounding two of his security guards,” Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One Iraqi policeman was killed and another was injured in an explosive charge blast in Falluja, a local police source said on Tuesday. “A roadside improvised explosive device (IED) hit a police patrol vehicle in Ahsa village, downtown Falluja, killing one patrolman, injuring another and causing damage to the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen killed two civilians and wounded a third south of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, on Monday, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Five people were killed and six others sustained injuries in a US drone attack on a hotel and nearby veterinary hospital near Miramshah bazaar in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on Monday. The drone fired three missiles, which struck a small hotel, where local tribesmen were staying due to daylong curfew clamped by the authorities in the volatile tribal region. Official sources said five people were killed, four of them foreigners, and six others injured.

#2: Three police and one civilian were killed as a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban militants in south Afghanistan on Tuesday. "This afternoon, a roadside bomb hit a police van in Spin Boldak district killing four people including three police constables and a passerby,"commander of Border Police in the district General Abdul Razaq told Xinhua.

#3: Unknown gunmen killed three people including a lawyer in eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Tuesday Morning, police said. Locals said all the three were returning to their village after attending city court when gunmen opened fire at them in Lahore. Attackers succeeded to run away from the site. Police have started investigation on the unknown criminals.


DoD: Spc. Alan N. Dikcis

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