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, June 1, 2010

War News for Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Iraq’s Psyche, Through a Green Zone Prism:


Reported security incidents

Mosul:
#1: One Iraqi soldier was killed and a civilian was wounded in a car bomb explosion in northern Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “A car rigged with explosives went off on Monday afternoon, targeting an army vehicle patrol in al-Masaref neighborhood in northern Mosul, killing a soldier and injuring a civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two policemen were killed and a child was wounded by gunmen in central Mosul, a security source said on Monday. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint near a church in al-Medan region, central Mosul, killing two policemen and injuring a child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and international forces have retaken a remote district near the Pakistan border that was overrun by Taliban militants, NATO and the government said Tuesday. The militants seized the district of Bargi Matal in rugged Nuristan province on Saturday, driving out Afghan security forces after days of fierce fighting. The defence ministry said Tuesday Bargi Matal had been recaptured. "In a joint operation of ANA (Afghan National Army) commando unit and coalition forces last night at 21:50 hours (1720 GMT) the Barg Matal district of Nuristan province was captured by government forces," it said in a statement. ISAF said that no shots had been fired and no one was injured during the operation, which was "in response to the large amount of insurgent activity in the area during previous weeks"


Slow news day today, perhaps I'll check in later if anything new is going on. -- whisker

5 comments:

Cervantes said...

It appears Mustafa Abu al-Yazid was killed May 21 by a drone attack. Doubtful this will have any particular immediate impact, but this ABC news article points out, correctly as far as I know, that al Qaeda leadership has now largely passed to a younger generation; the role at this time of OBL and Zawahiri seems unclear.

Dancewater said...

sure does not pay to be al-Qaeda's number three guy - he's been killed off about 57 times now.

Cervantes said...

True, but this time AQ has acknowledged it, so apparently it's for real. The U.S. has claimed to have killed him several times before though.

whisker said...

perhaps true or not, but funny how the announcement comes out around memorial weekend. When for a change there's no reported American war deaths.
E

whisker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.