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, November 5, 2011

War News for Saturday, November 05, 2011

Iraqis celebrate Eid Al Adha

U.S. Fires Senior Officer for Remarks on Afghans:


Reported security incidents

Taji:
#1: Four bombs targeting the home of an Iraqi anti-Qaeda militia leader killed at least three people and wounded several others north of Baghdad on Saturday, security officials said. The bomb blasts struck the home of Yassin Issa Daud, a leader of Sahwa (Awakening) militia in Taji, north of Baghdad, about 6:30 am (0330 GMT), Taji police Captain Ahmed Fahad said. The explosions killed three people, including Daud’s brother and wife, and wounded six other people, Fahad said, adding Daud was not in his home at the time of the attack. Officials from the interior and defense ministries put the toll at four killed and 11 wounded.


Kirkuk:
#1: A US patrol was attacked by a bomb, but no casualties were reported, security sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that no damages were reported by the patrol, but the area was closed.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: One armed insurgent was killed and five others detained as a result of four joint and independent operations involving the Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, and coalition forces in the Kabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces, the interior ministry said in a statement.


DoD: 1st Lt. Dustin D. Vincent

MoD: Private Matthew James Sean Haseldin

Posted by whisker at 3:32 AM

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