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, August 5, 2008

War News for Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Aug. 3 airpower summary:

Secret deal kept British troops out of Basra:

Marines ordered to stay longer in Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Police also discovered the bodies of three awakening council members who were abducted several days ago, police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said.

#2: One of Tuesday's blasts struck the commercial Bab al-Muadham district in the capital, killing one person and wounding five others, police and health officials said.

#3: Another roadside bomb went off on Palestine Street, a major thoroughfare in Baghdad, wounding seven people, authorities said.

#4: Monday Police found two unidentified bodies in Baghdad. The first body was found in Talbiyah and the second was found in Iskan.

#5: Two soldiers and one gunman were killed and 10 army personnel others wounded while security forces detained 21 people and defused several explosive charges during the past 24 hours, according to the Baghdad Operations Command on Tuesday. "Two army soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded while security forces killed a gunman, detained 19 wanted men and two suspects, and defused 23 improvised explosive devices in Baghdad and its districts," read a BOC statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.


Youssifiyah:
#1: Gunmen killed a senior leader of a U.S.-allied Sunni group and six of his guards in an ambush south of Baghdad, a group member said Tuesday. Unknown gunmen attacked the convoy of Sheik Ibrahim al-Karbouli in Youssifiyah on Monday, said the group member who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fears for his own security. The sheik was a senior leader of the so-called awakening council in the town, which is a former al-Qaida stronghold about 12 miles south of Baghdad.


Karbala:
#1: A bomb planted in a minibus exploded and wounded four people on Monday in central Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, police said.


Suwayra:
#1: Two handcuffed bodies were recovered from a river on Monday in Suwayra, 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said. A third body was found near the river.


Hilla:
#1: A man was found shot dead on Monday just south of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot down a barber in the central part of the southern Iraq port city of Basra on Tuesday, police said. "The gunmen raided the barber's shop in the area al-Saymar in central Basra, killing the shop owner and escaping to an unknown place," a security source, who did not want his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#2: Three civilians were killed on Tuesday by a landmine explosion in south of Basra, a police source said. “A landmine exploded on Tuesday in al-Sieba region, south of Basra, killing three civilians,” the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq


Touz Khurmato:
#1: The commander of the Touz Khormato medical corps escaped an assassination attempt in central Touz district, where a sticky improvised explosive device targeted his motorcade on Tuesday, a police source said. "Lt. Colonel Nijm Salaheddin survived an attempt on his life on Tuesday morning. The incident did not leave any casualties but caused material damage," the source, who asked that his name not be revealed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq


Kirkuk:
#1: Militants killed three members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol who were guarding a checkpoint just southwest of Kirkuk, 250 km (150 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Unidentified gunmen slit the throats of three Sahwa (Awakening) tribal fighters on Tuesday in an attack on their checkpoint west of the city of Kirkuk, a senior security official said.


Mosul:
#1: A suicide bomber wounded one U.S. soldier and one other person on Monday in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

#2: The body of a young man was found in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: The body of a child was found in eastern Mosul on Monday, police said.

#4: A civilian and a child were wounded on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in western Mosul, a security source said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire this afternoon at a civilian employee working for the water department in Ninewa in al-Zinjili region in western Mosul, injuring him and a child,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq. “ The civilian and the 11-year-old child, who is one of his relatives, were visiting a relative in the region and while they are leaving, the gunmen shot them and fled to unknown place,” he explained.


Irbil Prv:
#1: One Iraqi civilian was wounded by rockets launched from Iran on Monday, an Iraqi border guard commander said. Major-General Omar Sharif, head of operations for Iraqi border guards in Iraq's Kurdish north, said on Tuesday about 120 Katyusha rockets had landed in Arbil province, close to the Iranian border.



Afghanistan:
#1: Five Taliban insurgents died in a clash with Afghan police in southern Kandahar province overnight, an official said on Tuesday. Police suffered no casualties, he said.

#2: A roadside bomb hit a convoy of U.S.-led troops and wounded four soldiers in an area of western Herat province late on Monday, the U.S. military said.

#3: Meanwhile, Juma Gul Humat, police chief of Uruzgan province, confirmed that the police on Monday afternoon launched three separate operations targeting Taliban militants respectively in the Khash Uruzgan, Chora and Charchinu districts. "Eleven militants were killed including two commanders and five policemen were also wounded in the clashes," Humat said.


Casualty Reports:

Anthony Thompson was attached to a Marine battalion near Fallujah, that a suicide bomber detonated an explosive under an overpass where Thompson and Marines were standing on April 20, 2007. The blast injured Thompson and seven Marines. At first Thompson was not responsive at all, Scott said. Now he responds to three-word sentences. He also responds when A.J. is in the room, Scott said. The explosion left Anthony Thompson with a head injury, a less severe injury to his spine and other wounds.

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