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


Friday, April 30, 2010

War News for Friday, April 30, 2010

The DoD is reporting the death of Sgt. Grant A. Wichmann who died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., on Saturday, April 24th. He was originally wounded in a small arms fire at Out Post Bari Alai, Kunar province, Afghanistan on Monday, April 10th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, April 29th.


Fort Bliss soldier might have killed self:

In Shift, Pakistan Considers Attack on Militant Lair:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A car bomb parked next to an alcohol beverages store exploded in Al Shorta Al Rabiia region, southwestern Baghdad, on Thursday night, Baghdad Operations Command Qassem Ata told Alsumaria News. The explosion killed three people and wounded 12 others.

#2: One U.S. soldier was wounded by a roadside bomb in in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district on Thursday night, the U.S military said


Mosul:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Friday defused a bomb in eastern Mosul, according to an army source. “The forces defused the bomb, which was planted near a communication tower of AsiaCell Company in al-Intesar neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two people were killed and nine wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in a market in western Iraq on Friday, a local police source said. The blast struck a popular market in Fallujah, some 65 km west of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least 10 militants were killed in a clash with security forces in lower Orakzai tribal region, northwest of Pakistan, official sources said Friday. Two soldiers and four militants also sustained injuries in the gun battle and two compounds of militants were destroyed.

#2: Lt. Steven Warner and five other soldiers were traveling in Afghanistan on April 22 when there vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device, or IED. Steven Warner's gunner, driver and a passenger had to be medically evacuated from the combat situation; Lt. Warner and two other passengers were badly shaken.

#3: Five Afghan civilians were wounded when explosives planted in a bicyle went off in the Musa Qala district of southern Helmand province, said Dawood Ahmadi, provincial government spokesman.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Thomas E. Rivers Jr.,

DoD: Sgt. Grant A. Wichmann

DoD: Sgt. Keith A. Coe

18 comments:

thewiz said...

.


Sadly Sue doesn't seem to have the intellect to discern the difference between a radical position held by a few citizens and a radical position that is held by a high ranking government official AND is an official government policy.

The ones making threatening phone calls will be prosecuted if found. But in Iran, such radical positions are rewarded with high government posts and religious elevation.


.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

thewiz does not even have the intellect to learn my name, even after years and years of hanging out on this blog.

He is also blind to his deep racism to those of the Muslim faith.

Susan

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

No.. the Wiz doesnt hate Muslims. He is seperating the goats from the sheep and placing the "evil"(justified through the top 10percent American paid in society) into their box until they conform to Americanism or R dead.

Anonymous said...

And this is a problem within democracy especially within Americanised cultures where people become ants. At .01 dmg per day the majority of average people will never differenciate between criminal activity very well or have an ability to change much without murderous killing and rapes or genocide of their own victims.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Blues beat Cheetahs. gg.

Youd be surprised at the lef-handed jobs that dont exist.