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, December 17, 2007

War News for Monday, December 17, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a U.S. Soldier from a non-combat related injury vicinity of Camp Taji, Iraqi on Monday, December 17th. No other details were released and the incident is under investigation.


Security incidents:


Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb detonated near the Mudhaffar Square in eastern Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding five others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: Another roadside bomb blew up near an Iraqi army patrol in Baghdad's southeastern neighborhood of Zaafaraniya, damaging a military vehicle, wounding two soldiers aboard and four bystanders, he said.

Four Iraqi army soldiers and three civilians were wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on a security patrol in the southern Baghdad district of al-Zaafaraniya on Monday, an official Iraqi police source said.

#3: A third roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol near the University of Technology in eastern part of the capital, killing a bystander and injuring four others, the source said. It was unclear whether the U.S. patrol has sustained any casualty as the troops immediately cordoned off the area, preventing the Iraqi police from approaching the scene, he said. The U.S. military did not confirm the incident yet.

#4: In central Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded, killing two people riding on a passing minibus and wounding seven others, police and hospital officials said.

#5: Police found ( 9 ) unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad: ( 2 ) were found in west Baghdad ( Karkh bank) ; 1 in Doura and 1 in Bayaa. While ( 7 ) were found in east Baghdad ( Risfa bank ); 2 in New Baghdad , 2 in Sadr city , 1 in Ur, 1 in Zayuna and 1 in Palestine street.


Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: on Monday, a suicide bomber using a bicycle packed with explosives killed seven people in the main market of Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, local police said. Another 23 people were wounded in the attack.

Baquba:
#1: Four members of an anti-al-Qaida group were killed during a firefight with gunmen in the Mafraq neighborhood of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said. At least five people were wounded.

#2: Munem Tayf al-Shibani, a judge in a Diala court, was killed by an improvised explosive device that went off near his vehicle on the main street of the area of Hadd Maziad in Baaquba," the source, who did not want his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#3: the same source said an armed group belonging to al-Qaeda network attacked a fruits & vegetables market in central Baaquba, killing three men and wounding four, including one child.Baaquba, the capital of Diala, is 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

#4: Around 12 p.m., mortars hit Dali Abass of Al- Mansouriah (25 km south of Baquba) killing 1 person and injuring 4 others.

Khanaqin:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot down a local leader of a neighborhood in Jalawlaa in the district of Khanaqin, Diala province, and an escort, on Sunday night, eyewitnesses said. The gunmen showered Muhammad Ibrahim Hussein with bullets in front of his house while standing with a friend, killing them both instantly," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Khalis:
#1: From 3 p.m. till 6 p.m. of Sunday , clashes took place between gunmen who attacked two villages of Khalis ( Nay and Subair villages) 4 km of Khalis and 25 km north of Baquba and the residents of those two villages who resisted the attack. The result was 17 of residents killed and 5 injured while 22 of the gunmen were killed.

Muqdadiya:
#1: An Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashed Monday at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time near Al Muqdadiya. The aircraft is a medium-altitude long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft. The MQ-1’s primary mission is conducting armed reconnaissance. A board will be convened to investigate the incident.


Fao:
#1: Sunday night, clashes took place among smugglers and the Iraqi coast forces near the Iranian coast at Fao .An officer was killed in that incident after having a serious injury .


Basra:
#1: At least one civilian was killed and two others were wounded when gunmen clad in military uniform fired at them in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a police source said on Monday. "Unknown gunmen in military-like uniform shot dead a civilian and wounded two more, last night, in al-Jubilah area, northern Basra," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Taji:
#1: A U.S. Soldier died as a result of a non-combat related injury in the vicinity of Camp Taji, Iraq, today. The Soldier was taken to a nearby Coalition Forces medical facility for emergency life-support treatment and was subsequently pronounced dead by the attending medical official there.


Dhuluiya:
#1: Police found Monday noon, a dead body in Dhuluiya ( about 40 km north of Baghdad ) in Tigris river which was delivered to Balad hospital ( 45 km north of Baghdad) .


Baiji:
#1: Two policemen were killed and three members of a neighbourhood patrol were wounded when the police and the patrol members clashed in a town west of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.


Mosul:
#1: One civilian was killed and two others, including a woman, were wounded in random shooting by U.S. forces in southwestern Mosul, a local official security source said on Monday. An improvised explosive device went off on Monday morning near a U.S. patrol vehicle in Mosul's southwestern area of al-Risala, prompting the patrolmen to randomly fire at passers-by," the head of Ninewa police operations room, Brigadier Abdul Kareem al-Juburi, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "One civilian died of wounds and two others, including a woman, were critically injured," al-Juburi indicated. No comment was available from the U.S. side on the incident.

#2: A truck rigged with explosives was detonated this afternoon targeting a bridge over the Tigris River near the Mosul Dam," Brigadier Abdul Karim al-Juburi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The attack killed a security element from the installations protection force and injured another one as well as causing material damage to the bridge," he also said. "The bridge lies 200 meters from the Mosul Dam and links the river's two banks," the brigadier noted, adding no more details.

The blast caused no damage to the Mosul Dam itself, which U.S. Army engineers have previously warned is poorly constructed and in danger of imminent collapse. An engineer at the dam, Abdul-Khalaq Dhanoon, said a section of the 250-metre long metal bridge, which is about 1 kilometre from the dam, had been destroyed in the explosion.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: Police forces on Monday found unidentified corpse in al-Tharthar region, north of Falluja, a police source said."Police patrols on Monday afternoon found a body, thrown on the main road that links Falluja to Samarra in al-Tharthar region, north of Falluja," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) under condition of anonymity.


Afghanistan:
#1: Afghan and US-led troops killed at least 20 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan. The insurgents were killed during an operation in Zherai district of southern Kandahar province on Sunday, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib said. He said that nine other militants were wounded, while four of them were detained by the combined forces during the operation that began Thursday in the district. Due to remoteness of the area, it was difficult to independently verify the casualty figures.

#2: Five members of a family including three children were also killed Monday when the motorbike they were riding on was blown up by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. The couple and their three children were going from Garmab village to the main market of Tirin Kot to shop for the upcoming Muslim Eid festival in Uruzgan province, local police chief Juma Gul Hemat said.

#3: In the capital, Afghan security forces near the international airport shot and killed an unarmed civilian, thinking he was be a suicide bomber, the Defence Ministry said Monday.

#4: At least nine army recruits were killed by a suicide bomber Monday at an army base in the strife-torn North-West Frontier Province, the military's chief spokesman said. The bomber blew himself up close to the recruits just as they had finished football training on an army base in Kohat city, Major General Waheed Arshad told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Nine soldiers were killed and four were injured, Arshad said, adding that the charred body of the suicide attacker was also recovered from the scene.

#5: A GERMAN humanitarian organisation confirmed on Monday the kidnap of a German former aid worker in Afghanistan, and said his wife and child had also been abducted. We are very shocked and alarmed,' Gruenhelme (Green Helmets) founding member Aiman Mazyek told AFP. Afghan police said a German national who has settled in Afghanistan and started a family there was abducted by four armed men in the west of the country on Sunday night.

0 comments: