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


Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Security Incidents for Wednesday, May 16, 2007


Baghdad:
#1: U.S. soldiers have come under sporadic small arms fire during their manhunt in the region dubbed "the triangle of death" for its high rate of kidnappings and killings. One soldier was wounded in the skirmishes, Martin said.

#2: An explosive charge went off on Wednesday afternoon in central Baghdad, killing a civilian and injuring three others, a police source said. "A bomb was detonated today near al-Ghazalani cemetery in al-Sheikh Omar industrial zone in central Baghdad, leaving one civilian dead and three injured," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#3: At least nine apparent mortar rounds slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Wednesday, wounding at least six people, the second such attack in as many days, an official said. The explosions occurred shortly before 4 p.m., about the same time the Green Zone was hit on Tuesday. "Preliminary information indicates they were mortars, but that hasn't been confirmed," U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told The Associated Press. He said at least six people were reported injured but their nationalities had not been confirmed.

At least nine apparent mortar rounds slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Wednesday, the second such attack in as many days, an official said. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said two Iraqis were killed and 10 people were wounded. No American casualties were reported.

The U.S. embassy said the wounded included eight Iraqis and two non-American foreigners, although their nationalities were unknown. None of the dead or injured were U.S. embassy employees or contractors

#4: Around 4 pm, a bomb was planted inside a car exploded in Baijiya neighborhood at Mansour district ( west Baghdad) killing one civilian and injuring another.

#5: Around 4.30 pm, gunmen assassinated colonel police ( Ali Ayash) at Amiriya neighborhood ( west Baghdad) .

#6: Around 4.30 pm, mortars hit Shurtta Khamsa neighborhood (south Baghdad) injuring one civilian.

#7: Around 5 pm, a roadside bomb exploded in Baladiyat neighborhood without casualties recorded.

#8: Around 6 pm, mortars hit Baladiyat neighborhood injuring one civilian.

#9: (30 dead bodies were found all over Baghdad : 26 were at west Baghdad ( Kharkh bank) ; 8 in Bayaa , 7 in Amil ,2 in Saidiya , 2 in Doura , 2 in Hurriya , 2 in Shulla , 1 in Khadhimiya , 1 in Adel , 1 in Ghazaliya , while 4 were found at east Baghdad ( Rusafa bank ) ; 2 in Karada , 1 in Adhamiya , 1 in Jisr Diyala


Diyala Prv:
#1: A parked car bomb has exploded in a Shiite enclave northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 32 people and wounding 50, police said Wednesday. The attack occurred near an outside market about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the village of Abu Saydah in the volatile Diyala province, local police said, giving the casualty toll.

A truck bomb laden with chlorine gas exploded in a market area in the mostly Shi'ite town of Abu Sayda, north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 45 people and wounding 60, police said on Wednesday.

#2: Gunmen attacked police Brigadier-General Najib al-Hiyali, the head of the Iraqi-U.S. Joint Coordination Centre of Diyala Province, killing two of his guards and wounding another, police said. Hiyali was not harmed in the attack.

#3: Around 11.15 am, a grenade was thrown by someone near Mustansiriya crossroads having 4 civilians injuries. Diyala

#4: Around mid-day, gunmen assassinated a member of KDP ( Kurdstan Democracy Party) at Qara Taba .

#5: Around mid-day, a police patrol found at the side of Abu Saida –Wajihiya- Muqdadiya crossroads only a head of policeman body who disappeared two days ago while he was going home to Muqdadiya.

#6: A suicide car bomber came near a check point at Hadeed area ( west Baquba ) killed one soldier when exploded

#7: Around 6.30 pm, gunmen made a false checkpoint at Ghalbiya area( about 30km west of Baquba) near the Iraqi ad American army headquarters in the area stopping some cars and taking 21 passengers( Turkmans Shiite pilgrims who were on their way home to Kirkuk from Kerbala and Najaf) to Al-Hashmiyat neighborhood


Nasiriya:
#1: Militias loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with Iraqi forces in the southern city of Nasiriya on Wednesday which killed four people and wounded 40, Iraqi police and hospital sources said. A police lieutenant said the fighting broke out after police arrested two Mehdi Army militiamen on Tuesday on suspicion they were part of a team that plants roadside bombs in the area. Witnesses in Nasiriya, 375 km (235 miles) south of Baghdad, said the clashes began before dawn. Fighting eased by noon after the militias withdrew from the city's centre.

Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia clashed with Iraqi security forces in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday after overnight fighting left 11 people dead. "The clashes have killed two Iraqi soldiers and nine civilians," in and around the city, said Hadi Badr, the city's top public health official, adding that 91 policemen, soldiers and civilians had been wounded. He said two Mahdi Army fighters received treatment in the local hospital, but that many others were wounded and taken to other locations.


Latifiya:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at a car, killing one person and wounding four others in the town of Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said


Diwaniya:
#1: Clashes between militias loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi forces wounded eight civilians, a policeman and an Iraqi soldier, hospital and Iraqi military sources said. A curfew was imposed until further notice.


Al Shatra:
#1: At least four people were killed and 20 others were wounded after clashes erupted between militias loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and police in the town of al-Shatra, near Nasiriya, a source in the hospital said.


Basra:
#1: "While returning back to the base in Basra International Airport the patrol was attacked by light-arms and Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG)," she also said, noting that the attack caused no human or material damage.

#2: The two British bases in the former presidential palaces in central Basra and in Basra International Airport were attacked overnight by gunmen with no damage, Captain Brown added.

Tuesday night and Wednesday morning , the British bases at the presidential places in the downtown of Basra city and the Basra international airport were targets for indirect fires without casualties recorded.

#3: Around mid-day , a child was killed and two civilians injured when policemen shot at a crowded people who were furious as they have no power supply since yesterday in the downtown of Basra city.

#4: Five dead bodies were found in Basra: 1 in Tanuma neighborhood (east Basra) for a lawyer and he was the chairman of the neighborhood municipality 1 a former member of Arab Baath party 2 at Al-Hussain neighborhood ( downtown the city) 1 at Ashar ( city center)


Salah Ad Din Prv:
#1: Early morning , a roadside bomb exploded when an American patrol passed by on Baghdad –Tikrit high way near Ishaqi city having some damage to a Humvee vehicle without knowing casualties of the American side as the scene was closed for media


Riyadh:
#1: The head of the Riyadh city council was killed along with another member in the council when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in the town of Riyadh, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk, police said.


Hawija:
#1: Around 12.15 pm, a roadside bomb exploded near the technical institution in Hawija city ( south west of Kirkuk) targeting a patrol for the Iraqi army having no casualties recorded as police said

#2: Around 2.30 pm, a roadside bomb exploded near the technical institution in Hawija( south west of Kirkuk) targeting a police patrol injuring one policeman of the patrol . Salahuddin

#3: Yesterday night( Tuesday 15th ) , a roadside bomb exploded near Hawija petrol station killing one civilian and injuring another one. Nasiriya


Mosul:
#1: Two suicide truck bombers destroyed a Tigris river bridge north of the city of Mosul, police said, in the latest attack against the country's infrastructure

#2: Two policemen were killed and five prisoners escaped from a Ninewa police jail on Wednesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a Ninewa provincial council member said. "Five prisoners killed two policemen and managed to escape jail while being transferred to the al-Tasfirat jail hospital this afternoon," Hasham al-Hamdani told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#3: As many as 200 insurgents attacked an Iraqi police station and a prison and set off a series of bombs in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and three wounded when gunmen attacked an Iraqi army patrol in Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday killed a member of the Reconstruction and Compensation Committee in Anbar, a security source said. "Unknown armed men this morning intercepted the car of engineer Basem Abdul Elelah al-Muaadedy, member of the Compensation and Reconstruction Committee in Falluja, in al-Andalus neighborhood in the center of the city," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq. The man was working for the committee, which was established by U.S. forces after the second Falluja battle in November 2004 to estimate losses and compensate residents.




Afghanistan:
#1: Armed militants attacked US-led coalition forces and Afghan border police in southern Afghanistan, killing one coalition soldier, officials said Wednesday. The soldier was seriously wounded in the clash, some 40 kilometers southwest of Qalat in Zabul province on Tuesday. He died of his wounds at a medical facility, the coalition statement said. The soldier's nationality was not released. The combined patrol was returning from providing medical assistance to more than 600 Afghans in Kandahar province, the statement said.

Afghan Border Police and Coalition forces were attacked by an unknown number of enemy forces while operating near the village of Chinah, 43 kilometers southwest of Qalat in Zabul Province May 15. The combined patrol returned fire and maneuvered to a defendable position to repel the enemy attack. After forcing the enemy fighters to retreat, the combined patrol moved to a Coalition firebase. One Coalition servicemember was wounded during the engagement and medically evacuated to a near by treatment facility, where he later died of wounds.

#2: Seven Afghan soldiers were killed and four were missing in action when an Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF patrol was ambushed yesterday morning around 9 a.m. in eastern Nuristan Province. In addition, three ANA soldiers were wounded as well as five ISAF servicemembers. An unknown number of enemy insurgents attacked the patrol with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. The injured have been medically evacuated to ISAF treatment facilities in the area. The status of the injured personnel is unknown at this time.

#3: NATO troops wounded six Afghan civilians in the southern Kandahar province on Tuesday night, a health official said Wednesday. "Some NATO troops, who were patrolling on Tuesday night in Kandahar city, the provincial capital, opened fire on civilians and wounded six of them," Abdul Qayum Pakhla, Director of Public Health in Kandahar city, told Xinhua. The incident occurred between 11:00 p.m.(1830 GMT) and 11:30 p. m.(1900 GMT), he said.

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