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, June 18, 2011

War News for Saturday, June 18, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an IED blast in the Gereshk valley area, within the northern Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 16th. Here's the ISAF release which was posted on yesterdays blog.

The British MoD is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier from small arms fire somewhere in Helmand province on Thursday, June 16th. Here's the ISAF release which was also posted on yesterdays blog.

The DoD is reporting the death of an ISAF Marine during combat operations somewhere in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 16th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, June 18th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two civilians have been killed and three others injured in a car blast in central Baghdad on Friday, a security sources said. “An explosive charge blew off under a car in central Baghdad’s Karrada district on Friday night, killing 2 civilians and wounding 3 others,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded three policemen and one civilian when it went off in central Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Lieutenant Colonel Ghalib al-Jubouri, a police spokesman in Diyala province, said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car shot dead a government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia member in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An officer, with captain rank, has been killed and three policemen injured when trying to dismantle an explosive charge in west Iraq’s city of Ramadi, an Anbar police source said on Friday. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside west of Ramadi, was blown off, while trying to dismantle it, killing an officer, with captain rank and wounding 3 policemen,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A police officer and an eyewitness say suicide bombers have attacked a police station near the presidential palace in the heart of the Afghan capital, killing two police officers. A police officer said one suicide bomber also had been killed in the attack in Kabul that started early Saturday afternoon. The officer requested anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media. A 32-year-old eyewitness, Mohammed Honayon, told The Associated Press the attackers were wearing Afghan army uniforms and opened fire as they tried to enter the police station. A gun battle between insurgents and security forces was still going on for control of the station.

#2: At least 15 NATO fuel tankers have been torched in the latest wave of attacks by militants in conflict-riddled Afghanistan. Militants in Afghanistan targeted convoys carrying supplies to NATO troops, killing nine Afghan security guards and torching 15 fuel tankers on Saturday. Two of the attacks targeted private guards escorting supply trucks to a base for Polish troops in the eastern Ghazni province. A third attack happened along the border between Herat and Farah provinces in the west.

#3: Pakistani forces killed three militants after insurgents attacked a military checkpost in the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, killing one soldier and wounding two, local intelligence officials said.

#4: A roadside bomb attack on an army vehicle in the southwestern district of Panjgur near the Iran border killed a man and two children, and wounded over two dozen, four of them paramilitary soldiers, government officials said.

DoD: Sgt. Mark A. Bradley

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