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


Thursday, May 17, 2007

Security Incidents for Thursday, May 17, 2007

Three American soldiers were killed Thursday and one was wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported. No further details were released and the names of the dead and wounded were withheld until their relatives are notified



Baghdad:
#1: For the second time in a week, they set off a bomb near a bridge in southeastern Baghdad on Thursday, killing two civilians and wounding five, police said. At 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, a roadside bomb exploded near the entrance to the bridge, killing at least two Iraqi pedestrians and wounding five, police said on condition of anonymity out of concern for their own security.

#2: The Iraqi army killed six insurgents in different parts of Iraq over the last 24 hours, the Iraqi army said in a statement

#3: A mortar shell hit Abo Disheer neighborhood south Baghdad around 10,00 am. No human casualties reported.

#4: A man searching trash for tin cans was killed in the city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, when a mortar round left there exploded, police said

#5: A mortar round hit a factory behind a mosque near the Shiite slum of Sadr City in Baghdad, killing one worker and wounding four, police said

#5: The bodies of seven handcuffed and tortured Iraqi men were found, four in Baghdad and three south of the capital, police said. They apparently were the latest victims of death squads that operate in Iraq, motivated by sectarian hatred or the search for ransoms.

#6: 1 civilian was killed when a mortar shell hit Al Shurta Al Rabi'aa neighborhood south west Baghdad around 5,15 pm.

#7: A civilian was killed when a mortar shell hit Al Nahrawan district south Baghdad around 5,15 pm.

#8: 8 civilians were injured when a mortar shell hit Al Qahira neighborhood north east Baghdad around6,30 pm.

#9: 3 civilians were killed when a mortar shell hit Jamila neighborhood east Baghdad around 6,30 pm.

#10: 2 policemen were killed and 1 was wounded when gunmen opened fire targeting their patrol in Bob Al Sham district north east Baghdad around 6,40 pm.

#11: 3 civilians were wounded in clashes with the Iraqi army in Al Bayaa neighborhood south Baghdad around 7,00 pm.

#12: (update for #5) 30 anonymous bodies were found in Baghdad today.25 bodies were found in Karkh, the western part of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods (6 bodies in Amil, 4 bodies in Doura, 4 bodies in Bayaa, 3 bodies in Jihad, 2 bodies in Adil, 2 bodies in Ghazaliyah, 2 bodies in Saidiyah, 2 bodies in Shoula.) 5 bodies were found in Rusafa, the eastern part of Baghdad in the following neighborhoods (2 bodies in Jorf AL Naddaf 1 body in Palestine street, 1 body in Al Jumhuriyah street and 1 body in Adhemiyah.)

#13: Three American soldiers were killed Thursday and one was wounded when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported. No further details were released and the names of the dead and wounded were withheld until their relatives are notified


Diyala Prv:
#1: An official source in the local administration of Baladroz east of Baquba said that a police man was killed and another one was injured when a hand grenade exploded near the house Baladroz police commander adding that the explosion happened accidentally.

#2: A medical source in Diyala health directorate said that the morgue of Baquba hospital received 3 bodies including a body of a woman in her thirties. The source said that the three bodies were shot many times in the head.

#3: A medical source said that gunmen from what is called (Iraq Islamic State) shot dead a security member working for the health establishment protection unit.

#4: Unknown gunmen on Thursday stole one billion Iraqi dinars ($ 860,000) from government accountants as they left a Diala bank with bags of cash, a security source said. "Gunmen in four vehicles laid an ambush in central Baaquba for government accountants with one billion Iraqi dinars as a monthly social security program fund for poor families in Diala," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#5: Unknown gunmen clad in Iraqi military-style uniform on Thursday forced at gunpoint a minibus carrying twelve people to unknown destination in al-Adhim area, Diala province, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, eyewitnesses said


Taji:
#1: A US military helicopter has been destroyed and nine others damaged in a mortar attack on an American airfield north of Baghdad. US military covered up the attack, which occurred Sunday at a US air base at al-Taji. However, a defense official finally revealed the events on Wednesday, three days after the attack. Four US service members were also wounded in the incident, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to AFP. Insurgents appeared to have targeted the aircraft rather than have struck them with random fire, the official explained.

Mortar rounds hit a U.S. Air Force base north of Baghdad on Thursday, destroying one helicopter and damaging nine others, police said. The attack at Taji, a major Air Force on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, occurred about 2 a.m., the police said. In a brief statement, the U.S. military said: "There was an indirect fire attack on the base at Taji which resulted in damage to some aircraft." Indirect fire is a term the military generally uses to describe rocket or mortar attacks. The attack destroyed one helicopter and damaged nine others, the police said. An Iraqi civilian who works at the base said he saw about 16 damaged helicopters, some of them set on fire by the mortar attack. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.


Latifiya:
#1: Police found two bodies bearing signs of torture and bullet wounds in the small town of Latifiya 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Iskandariya:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded three others in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said


Diwaniya:
#1: Gunmen killed a civil servant in a drive-by shooting in Diwaniya, police said. It was not clear why he was targeted.

#2: At least three civilians were killed, including a woman, and four others wounded in clashes between militiamen and security forces in the Shi'ite city of Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Hilla:
#1: A policeman was killed and three of his family were wounded when a militant hurled a hand grenade at his home in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: Gunmen killed a police major along with his son in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra, police said.

Gunmen killed Major Kadhum Mutashar , the inspector in the ministry of interior affairs and his tow sons in Al Zubair district west of Basra city yesterday evening. The gunmen killed the inspector near his house injuring one of his neighbors

#2: Eyewitnesses said that an electricity engineer working in Baghdad was killed today. Eyewitnesses said that gunmen driving a new sedan car opened fire towards engineer Nawfal Abdul Aal and killed him near Basra university north of Basra city


Baji:
#1: A source in the combined coordination center said that an Iraqi police officer from Biji police directorate was killed by gunmen when they shot him dead near the south check point of Biji tow north of Tikrit.


Shirqat:
#1: Three guards working with Shirqat town police commander were injured when an IED exploded targeting the commander convoy. The IED exploded near Al Siniyah district west Biji yesterday evening when the convoy of lieutenant colonel Dawood Mahmoud Al Sahan causing the injury of his guards.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found a bullet-riddled body in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: At least nine people were killed and five others injured in an overnight suicide car bomb attack followed by a gunfight in an area near the restive city of Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, local police source said on Thursday. "A suicide car bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at about 19:30 (1530 GMT) on Wednesday into a crowd of people in the al- Hissi area, killing six people and wounding four others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The attack followed by fierce gunfire, which broke out between residents in the area and gunmen who opened fire on the people with machine guns, the source said, adding that the gunfire resulted in the killing of three attackers and wounding another




Afghanistan:
#1: The first remote-control bomb targeted a vehicle of an American security company in the 5th district of Kandahar city, killing four security guards and wounding three others, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa A second blast hit a crowd of policemen who had cordoned off the site of the first explosion, 15 minutes later, killing three policemen and wounding five, including policemen and a journalist, Alizai said.

#2: In the usually quiet north, where militant violence is rare, a roadside bomb hit the car of the Badakhshan provincial police chief as he was going to work Thursday, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding the chief and three other guards, said deputy governor Sham-sul Rahman.

#3: Pakistani and Afghan troops exchanged mortar and gun fire on their disputed border early Thursday, days after clashes on the frontier claimed more than a dozen lives, a Pakistani official said. The two-hour battle erupted after Afghan forces fired a mortar at Pakistani soldiers near the Teri Mangal area in the Khyber tribal district, a Pakistani military spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

#4: Another roadside bomb, aimed at a police vehicle, killed two civilians in the southeastern province of Paktia, officials said.

#5: Afghanistan's information minister has been wounded by a bomber who drove his truck into the minister's vehicle in the southern city of Kandahar, the governor of the province said. The bomber rammed the armoured convoy, also wounding Assadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province. It was the third attack in Kandahar on Thursday. Three civilians were killed, but the minister, Karim Khurram, suffered only facial wounds and was treated in hospital, Khalid told reporters.

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