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


Monday, May 14, 2007


Security Incidents for Monday, May 14, 2007
Google Earth photo of one of the two bridges over the Diyala river in southeastern Baghdad damaged last week by truck bombs. You can clearly see the blast mark and that only one line of the bridge is open to traffic.

Baghdad:
#1: Three mortar rounds hit an outdoor market in Zafaraniyah, a Shiite section of southeast Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding nine.

#2: A car bomb exploded in a parking lot in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Karradah in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding two

In one incident, 12 people lost their lives when an explosives-borne vehicle, parked in a garage on al-Karada district, blew up creating the blast that additionally wounded four people and damaged nearby cars and buildings.

#3: A parked car bomb exploded near a police patrol in Palestine Street, a commercial area in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and a civilian, and wounding three policemen and four civilians.

#4: At 11:30 p.m. Sunday, gunmen apparently disguised as Iraqi soldiers broke into the house of a Sunni family at the Shiite-dominated al-Wihda district, 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing two men and wounding four others, included a 6-year-old child.

#5: In one incident, an explosive charge in the southern al-Zafaraniyah district was detonated near a police patrol, killing two Iraqis and wounding 14 others. Among the wounded were a number of police officers.

#6: Iraqi police sources also said that a different explosion - also caused by an explosive device - struck a US army patrol. Three servicemen were killed and a Hummer-type vehicle was destroyed. The US army had not yet reported on the attack and could not be reached for comment

#7: The bullet-riddled bodies of 22 people were found in different districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said

#8: An explosive charge went off on Monday targeting a U.S. patrol in western Baghdad, destroying a Hummer vehicle and leaving an unspecified number of casualties, a police source said. "A roadside bomb, planted by unidentified gunmen, was detonated this afternoon, targeting a U.S. patrol in Al-Aamel neighborhood in western Baghdad and destroying a U.S. Hummer," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#9: U.S. forces killed an Iraqi policemen while on duty in the district of Abu Dsheir, southern Baghdad, a security source said.

* #10: Two Soldiers were killed and four wounded when their dismounted patrol came under small arms fire southeast of Baghdad today.

* #11: A U.S. soldier died of non-combat causes, the U.S. military said.
* #12: A mortar shell hit a house in Mada'in district south Baghdad around 9,00 am damaging the house causing no casualties among the residents.

* #13: 2 Iraqi army members were killed and 4 others were injured when a suicide car bomber attacked a check point of the Iraqi army in Al Liqa'a square in Al Mansour neighborhood south west Baghdad around 3,30 pm.

* #14: A policeman was killed and his colleague was injured in a random fire by insurgents in Slekh neighborhood north east Baghdad around 5 ,00 pm.

* #15: 18 anonymous bodies were found in Baghdad today. 16 bodies were found in Karkh, the western part of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods ( 5 bodies in Amil, 4 bodies in Bayaa, 2 bodies in Saidiyah, 1 body in Risalah, 1 body in Mansour, 1 body in Taji, 1 body in Ghazaliyah and 1 body in Shurta the 5th. 2 bodies were found in Shaab neighborhood in Rusafa, the eastern part of Baghdad
* #16: Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Monday afternoon against a civilian a minibus in al-Mekanik region in southern Baghdad, killing eight passengers and injuring four, a security source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: The worst attack occurred in the Diyala capital of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, when gunmen in two cars opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing three policemen and two civilians, police said. Two policemen and four civilians were wounded in the 9:30 a.m. attack, which ended when the assailants fled the scene, police said.

Violence continued on Monday in Baquba, the capital of Iraq's north-eastern Diyala province, leaving at least four people dead and four others wounded after a deadly attack on a police station, police sources said. According to authorities, a group of armed men stormed a local police station killing three police officers and a civilian, and wounding four other people
* #2: A security source in the combined operation room in Diyala province said that 3 policemen were killed by Qaida insurgents. The source said that the Qaida insurgents stopped the car of the three policemen in Al Mustafa intersection west Baquba and shot them dead.

* #3: A security source said that gunmen killed 3 civilians and injured a fourth one in Khirnabat area north of Baquba today morning.

* #4: Police sources in Muqdadiyah town north eat of Baquba city said that 3 men including a policeman were injured when insurgent opened fire targeting them in Al Mu'alimeen neighborhood north Muqdadiyah town today afternoon. The source said that another civilian was kidnapped todayby another gunmen group in the same neighborhood.


Youssifiyah:
#1: U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged fire with suspected Sunni insurgents on Monday, killing two and wounding four of them during a massive search for three missing American soldiers in a volatile area south of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said. Early Monday morning, U.S. and Iraqi forces exchanged fire with gunmen near Youssifiyah during the house-to-house search operation for the missing American soldiers, killing two suspected insurgents and injuring four others, a top Iraqi army officer in the area said. He said the fighting began at about 3:30 a.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said the coalition's search operation in the region has detained more than 100 suspects.


Basra:
#1: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped three Danish soldiers belonging to the Multi-National Force (MNF) in Basra after they attacked a Danish patrol with an explosive device in the area of al-Latif, 15 km north of Basra, a security source said on Monday. The source, who asked not to be named, did not reveal to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) whether there were casualties from the two sides' ranks and no comments have been made by the MNF so far.

* #2: A Danish soldier was killed and five others were injured by a roadside bomb Monday in southern Iraq, the army said. An Iraqi interpreter was also injured in the explosion, which occurred as the Danish unit was on a routine patrol in several vehicles near Basra, said Maj. Kim Gruenberger of the Danish Army Operational Command. The injured soldiers were in stable condition, he said. Gruenberger said the Danish soldiers were shot at following the explosion, but withdrew from the area without further casualties
* #3: Eyewitnesses said that 2 students were killed and 2 others were injured in clashes between the British forces and gunmen in Al Qurna town north Basra today afternoon. The eyewitnesses said that the students were leaving home from school which is in the area of the clashes.


Suwayrah:
#1: In Suwayrah, 25 miles south of the capital, police dragged two unidentified, bullet-riddled bodies of a man and a women in their 40s from the Tigris River. Like many other victims of such killings in Iraq, they were handcuffed with their legs tied together.


Amara:
#1: A former member of the dissolved Baath Party was killed in central Amara by unidentified gunmen on Monday, eyewitnesses said. "Gunmen in a vehicle opened fire at the vehicle of Abbas Jaaafar al-Sudani near his home in the area of al-Majidiya in central Amara, killing him instantly," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Salah Ad Din Prv:
#1: One Task Force Lightning Soldier died of wounds sustained in an explosion near the unit’s patrol in Salah Ad Din Province May 13. One other Soldier was also wounded in the attack and was taken to a Coalition medical treatment facility for futher care.
Dujail:
Balad:
Irbal:
* #1: A truck collided on Monday night with a motorcade of a senior figure from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), killing two Kurdish party senior members and injuring five others, a source from the PUK said. "The accident took place in Beerdawood town near to Arbil on the road to Makhmor, while Saadi Ahmed Bera, a leading figure in PUK, and his companions were on their way to visit families of Sunday's bombing attack victims in Makhmor," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Tal Afar:
#1: Two civilians were killed when an explosive device went off in southern Talafar district, Ninawa province, the Talafar police chief said. "The device, planted in the area of al-Abadiya, south of the Talafar district, killed the two civilians while passing nearby,"Brig. Ibrahim Jassem al-Juburi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One Multi-National Coaltion-Iraq Soldier was killed and one was wounded in an improvised explosive device attack against their Heavy Expanded-Mobility Tactical Truck near Haditha at 12:30 p.m. May 13. The wounded Soldier was evacuated to a nearby military medical treatment facility.

#2: The Falluja public hospital received six unidentified bodies found by policemen in two separate areas of the city, a hospital source said




Afghanistan:
#1: Three American and two Pakistani troops were wounded in firing on the border with Afghanistan on Monday, Pakistani officials said. The firing came after Pakistani and American troops had ended a meeting on the border in Kurram tribal region.

Militants opened fire Monday on a convoy, killing a U.S. and a Pakistani soldier and wounding several others near the Afghan frontier, the Pakistan army spokesman said. Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said unidentified "miscreants" -- a word normally used by Pakistani officials to describe Islamic militants -- fired at the convoy carrying military officials who attended a meeting in the northwestern town of Teri Mangal. At least two other Pakistani soldiers and two Americans were wounded, he said.

* A NATO soldier was killed and four others wounded in an ambush by "unknown assailants" after a meeting with Pakistani counterparts on the border with Afghanistan on Monday, NATO said

#2: An Afghan interpreter working for the Canadian Forces has been killed in a rocket attack in southern Afghanistan. The attack happened Sunday morning at the Canadian forward operating base at Ma’sum Ghar in the Panjwaii district. Another local Afghan interpreter was injured in the attack and taken to the military hospital in Kandahar. A forces spokesperson in Ottawa says only one rocket was fired and there were no Canadian casualties.

#3: A roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle in a convoy of Western troops as it passed over a bridge outside the Afghan city of Herat on Monday, wounding several soldiers, witnesses said. One vehicle was badly damaged in the blast. Both NATO and U.S.-led troops operate in Herat, regarded as one of a handful of safe areas in Afghanistan until recent weeks.

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