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


Sunday, April 25, 2010

News of the Day for Sunday, April 25, 2010

Mahdi Saleh, center, reacts during the funeral for his brother, Hadi Salih, 22, in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 25, 2010. Saleh was killed when bombs hidden in three plastic bags exploded simultaneously in a billiard hall on Saturday in a religiously mixed neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing 13 people and wounding 25 others. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed) Note: This is higher than the casualty toll that has been reported elsewhere, but may well be more accurate. -- C




Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Six people killed, 19 injured by three bombs hidden in a billiard parlor late Saturday.

Iraqi Army Lt. Colonel, 3 civilians, injured in a sticky bomb attack in northern Baghdad.

Two Sahwa fighters, 3 civilians injured in bomb attack near a Sahwa checkpoint.

Hamrin, Diyala Province

Former Saddam Hussein deputy Izzat al-Douri reportedly captured by joint Iraqi-U.S. operation, according to the Iraqi newspaper al-Sabah al-Jadid. No confirmation at this time.


Other News of the Day

Internet posting purportedly by Islamic State of Iraq confirms the deaths of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, as previously claimed by U.S. and Iraqi officials.


A mortar round in a pile of scrap metal explodes in a foundry in Irbil, killing 5 workers. Police say the incident was an accident, but this is the kind of thing that happens when you have wars -- leftover munitions keep exploding for a long time.

This somewhat confusing story by AP's Lara Jakes discusses the somewhat ambiguous pronouncement by Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday, in which his offer to supply "hundreds of believers" to join Iraqi forces in defending the people was taken by some as a veiled threat to reactivate the Mahdi Army. Sadrist spokesmen insist he was only offering support for the Iraqi state; but there appears to be at least a subtle dig to the effect that the state has been inadequate so far in providing security.

Afghanistan Update

Dozens of schoolgirls and teachers sickened in a poison gas attack on a girls' school. Excerpt:

"I was in class when a smell like a flower reached my nose," said Sumaila, 12, one of the girls hospitalised after the attack. "I saw my classmates and my teacher collapse and when I opened my eyes I was in hospital," she said. Azizullah Safar, head of the Kunduz hospital, said many of the girls were still suffering from pain, dizziness and vomiting.

The Taliban banned all education for girls when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and it remains a disputed issue in much of Afghanistan. Similar attacks have been carried out in other parts of Afghanistan over the past few years, including areas where there is little Taliban presence.

Yaqubi said 20 girls had fallen ill in a suspected poison attack on another Kunduz school last week. In the south and east, where the Taliban control towns and villages, girls' schools remain shut, teachers have been threatened and some girls have been attacked with acid.

Despite the attacks, Sumaila said she hoped to return to school, if her father allows her.


Protests in Lograr Province against a killing by NATO forces leads to torching of NATO fuel tankers. Excerpt:

In the early morning darkness, a joint U.S. and Afghan patrol killed three people and arrested two others in the village of Nasir near the Logar provincial capital, according to Afghan officials. A NATO statement said the men were shot when they displayed "hostile intent," and that one of those captured was a low-level Taliban commander who planned suicide bombings.

But a few hours after dawn, more than 100 people had gathered on a main road and insisted the slain men were innocent civilians. The furious crowd blocked traffic and set fire to at least 10 fuel tankers using hand grenades, said provincial police chief Ghulam Mustafa Moisini. By midday, the fire was still raging and neighbors evacuated their homes.


Suicide bomb attack on a private security convoy in Shah Joi, Zabul Province, kills 1 guard, two passersby, and the attacker.

Bomb attack on a NATO convoy in Logar Province. Casualties are feared but no more information is available at this time.

Quote of the Day

It's not surprising that Republicans oppose the Obama Administration - they want to suck up to the rich by maintaining the status quo. And it's not surprising that they lie - this is, after all, the Party that created the fictional Iraqi atomic bomb threat so they would have a winning issue in the 2002 mid-term elections. What is surprising is that they've been so successful. Why are Republican supporters so enthusiastic when they've been force-fed a diet of BS?


Bob Burnett

14 comments:

Dancewater said...

that attack on school children is just disgusting.

Dancewater said...

Taliban agree:


Taliban condemns poison gas attack on schoolgirls in Kunduz


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/taliban-condemns-poison-gas-attack-on-schoolgirls-in-kunduz-1954226.html

Dancewater said...

Apparently the Afghan protesters (who set fire to the NATO trucks) don't care if the people killed were Taliban.

Dancewater said...

My Life as an Insurgent, And Why I Quit

http://www.alternet.org/world/146595/my_life_as_an_insurgent%2C_and_why_i_quit

+++

he started fighting the Americans after the incident in Fallujah where US troops killed unarmed protesters.

interesting read

Dancewater said...

Kidnapped Chinese engineers freed in Afghanistan

http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINSGE63O02D20100425?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=401

Dancewater said...

18 veterans commit suicide every day

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/military_veterans_suicide_042210w/

+++++

too bad they are paying the price for the horrors of war instead of the assholes who supported the war, like thewiz.

Dancewater said...

Sergeant called in F15 crew to bomb his own soldiers by mistake

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7106851.ece

This happened in Afghanistan in August 2007. It will happen again.

Dancewater said...

Ex Vice-President of Iraq Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri arrested in Iraq

http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/627331/cs/1/

Dancewater said...

'Dancing Boys' examines dark Afghan 'boy play' sex trade

Read more: http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/kabul/2010/04/dancing-boys-examines-dark-afghan-boy-play-sex-trade.html#ixzz0mAWhy674


+++++

I recommend watching the Frontline show on this topic. Our "friends" in Afghanistan like to kidnap and rape little boys. The Taliban put a stop to this when they show up.

Dancewater said...

US intervenes in Iraq election row as feared militia waits in wings

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-intervenes-in-iraq-election-row-as-feared-militia-waits-in-wings-1954224.html

+++++

why don't we just tell them what to do and skip the elections? that will save time and money.

thewiz said...

I see that you are still propagating the lie that the Bush admin lied about WMDs in Iraq. Are you ready to say that the French also lied? The Russians lied? The Germans lied??

I guess the entire world was in on the conspiracy that Bush started. What amazing powers Bush had.


'

thewiz said...

Also, interesting how the girls were poisoned just for going to school. Anther crazy western idea, educating females, that they don't really hate us for.

1scorpion said...

I'll tell you wiz, the WMD was a lie, otherwise, where are they?

On the schollgirls...a terrible tragedy. However, is it that much different than what the Texas Board of Education is doing with their textbooks in that let's rewrite history. So different, yet so much the same, huh whiz?

thewiz said...

1scorp; yeah, changing books is no different than killing girls. What a brainiac you are.