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


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Security Incidents for Tuesday, July 24, 2007

(1) MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Marine from enemy action in Al Anbar Province on Saturday, July 21st.

(2) The Bryan (Texas) Eagle is reporting the death in Iraq of a Marine from Bedias, Texas: Bobby L. Twitty, 20. According to his family, Twitty died at Ramadi in Al Anbar Province on Sunday evening, July 22nd, from what they are describing as "just a freak accident". This death does not appear to have been previously reported by CENTCOM. Bryan (Texas) station KBTX is stating that Twitty died when a tire he was changing exploded. Twitty enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school graduation in 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in February of this year. "He was looking for a challenge," his father said. Twitty was the second oldest of six brothers and sisters.

(3) The Associated Press is reporting the deaths of six NATO troops all total on Monday, July 23rd, in Afghanistan. This includes the Norwegian soldier reported earlier. But it also includes four Americans who are said to have died in a roadside bombing in Paktika Province. A sixth NATO soldier is said to have been killed in the south of Afghanistan, although the soldier's nationality has not been released yet.

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Baghdad:
#1: Hundreds of demonstrators, meanwhile, marched in the predominantly Shiite district of Shaab in northern Baghdad to protest a U.S.-Iraqi barricade of Husseiniyah, a town on the capital's northeastern outskirts that is known as a Shiite militia stronghold. Police issued calls for residents to leave the town, and some said they were running out of food and fuel.

#2: Militants fired several rounds of mortar shells on the heavily fortified Green Zone of the Iraqi capital Tuesday where the US and Iranian delegations were holding their second landmark meeting over Iraq's worsening security situation, a police source said. "Several mortar rounds landed on the Green Zone shortly after 11:00 a.m.," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. It was not known whether there was any casualty or where the shells landed.

#3: Gunmen killed two policemen and wounded two others in the Waziriya district of northern Baghdad on Monday, police said.

#4: Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said.

#5: The bodies of 24 people, all with bullet wounds and showing signs of torture, were found in different parts of Baghdad over the past 24 hours, police said

#6: At least one person was killed and two others wounded when missiles landed in the northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Husainiya, VOI reported Tuesday citing an Iraqi police source

#7: Around midday an IED targeted Iraqi police vehicle in Zayuna. 2 policemen were injured and one police vehicle was damaged


Diyala Prv:
Muqdadiyah:
#1: A mortar shell landed in Al Muqdadiyah today. One man was killed and his wife was injured.


Hilla:
#1: A suicide bomber struck a busy commercial center in a major Shiite city south of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens as the streets were packed with shoppers and people on their way to work, police and hospital officials said. The explosion occurred at 9 a.m. in Hillah, according to provincial police, who said the driver of the tow truck detonated his payload in the middle of the Bab al-Mashhad district. Iraqi Most of the 24 killed and 69 wounded in the blast suffered serious burns, said Ayad Abdul-Zahra of the Hillah general hospital.


Basra:
#1: Three mortar shells targeted al Sadr hospital in Basra today. 3 people were killed and 14 others were injured.


Dhuluiya:
#1: Gunmen seriously wounded a police colonel and his son and blew up three houses in Dhuluiya, 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: unknown gunmen blew up three houses belonging to local policemen in al-Dalouiya's central neighborhood of al-Jubur after driving people out of their houses by force of arms, the same source added, indicating that no casualties were reported.


Hawija:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a civil servant in the town of Hawija, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: At least three people were wounded, including a policeman, in a roadside bomb attack near a police patrol in southern Kirkuk, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: In southern Helmand province, Afghan troops ambushed by militants called in airstrikes and fought back with small-arms and mortar fire, the U.S.-led coalition said. The coalition said at least 36 insurgents were killed in the fighting Monday, but no Afghan or coalition troops were hurt.

#2: In Uruzgan province, police clashed for three days with militants blocking the road leading to Kandahar province, leaving 26 militants and two policemen dead, said Wali Jan, the Uruzgan deputy highway police chief. NATO-led and Afghan army troops joined the battle Tuesday, reopening the road for civilians traffic, he said.

#3: Another 13 suspected militants were killed in Kandahar province, the Defense Ministry said. The battles took place in remote and dangerous parts of Afghanistan, and the death tolls could not be independently confirmed.

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