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, September 24, 2008

War News for Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Cryptologic Technician Third Class Petty Officer Matthew J. O’Bryant died in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday, September 20th.

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Chaplain (Col.) Sidney J. Marceaux Jr. died from a non-combat related illness at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Sunday, September 14th. No other details were released.


Emirates Plans Canal to Bypass Hormuz Strait On Iranian Threat:

US military destroyed my soul, says Afghan reporter: (Jawed Ahmad, a 22-year-old reporter who worked for Canadian TV, was captured by US military for 11 months without charge.)

Shady deals in Iraq's arms bazaar: (Clandestine gun suppliers, funded by the United States and Iraqi governments, have flooded Iraq with millions of weapons since 2003, charges a new Amnesty International investigation.)

Iraqi parliament approves provincial elections law:

N. Korea Bars Inspectors From Nuclear Plant: (Another great diplomatic effort)

Three blasts rattle police stations in southern Yemen:

Has Oil Been Good for Iraq?


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Tuesday Iraqi police found one dead body in the New Baghdad neighborhood in Baghdad.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted an American patrol in Fudhailiyah neighborhood (east Baghdad) around 7 a.m. Seven Iraqi people were injured while no casualties were reported on the American side.

#3: Gunmen opened fire on Abdul Karim Hussein’s car, the brigadier general in the ministry of interior. Abdul Karim was wounded with his driver and another person.

#4: A bomb attached to a car killed an off-duty soldier and wounded six civilians in northeast Baghdad, police said.

#5: A bomb planted under a civilian car detonated near an army check point in Shaab neighborhood (north Baghdad). One person was killed (the driver) and five other people were wounded.

#6: Police found one dead body in Ur neighborhood in eastern Baghdad today.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Several bombs exploded Wednesday in front of a house of an Iraqi family, killing a woman and injuring eight family members, police sources said. The detonation took place in the city of Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

#2: The same source said that a policeman was killed and five were injured in an armed attack on a checkpoint near al-Uthmaniya village on the road between Baaquba and Baghdad.

#3: "A school guard was killed by a suspected al-Qaeda armed group in al-Abara district in Baaquba," he added.

#4: (see #2) Gunmen killed 20 people, including Iraqi security personnel, in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said. Civilians, policemen and members of U.S.-backed Sunni local patrol groups were killed in the attack close to the city of Baquba in Diyala province, police said.

Gunmen killed 20 people including 12 policemen in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said, in one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq in weeks. Civilians and members of a U.S.-backed Sunni Arab patrol group were also killed in the attack close to the city of Baquba in Diyala province, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said. Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in a village close to Baquba, killing one policeman. The gunmen then ambushed reinforcements, killing a further 11 policemen, local Sunni Arab patrol group members and civilians, police said. The dead included a police lieutenant-colonel and a police captain. The U.S. military and the Iraqi army have since surrounded the area, but the gunmen were believed to have escaped, police said.

Gunmen killed 12 national policemen and eight Sahwa members in an ambush in Dulaimiyat village of Khan Bani Saad (south of Baquba) around 4:30 p.m. Three high rank officers were among those who were killed.

Khan Bani Saad:
#1: "A policeman was killed and another one was injured during a security raid in al-Rasoul village in Khan Bani Saad district in south of Baaquba," the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Sadiyah:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Sadiyah town (47 miles east Baquba). Three policemen were injured.


Basra:
#1: A gunman was killed on Tuesday night in a roadside bomb explosion in western Basra, a senior police source said on Wednesday. "The gunman was killed when the bomb he was trying to plant went off behind the police station in al-Hussein neighborhood in western Basra," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. "The explosion left no other casualties," he noted.

#2: "Another bomb exploded late Tuesday targeting a British vehicle patrol near the base at the Basra international airport, northwest of the city, without causing casualties," he also said.


Siniyah:
#1: In yesterday's incident, the U.S. soldiers were hunting for insurgents and weapons after they were hit by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire near Siniyah, 180 km northwest of Baghdad, according to a military statement. The troops then came under fire while searching a house and "shot a Sons of Iraq leader who was mistaken for the enemy when he entered the house," said navy Lt.-Cmdr. David Russell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. Medical aid was administered, the military said, but the troops were unable to save al-Garrout.


Samarra:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting the commander of Samarra security operations detonated near his convoy in central Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said, adding that six bodyguards were wounded. The commander was unharmed.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted an army patrol in Hadba neighborhood in Mosul city. Two soldiers were wounded.



Afghanistan:
#1: A police official says a bomb blast in the capital has wounded Kabul's chief criminal investigator. Zemerai Bashary says Wednesday's bomb blast appears to have targeted Gen. Ali Shah Paktiawal, the head of criminal investigations for the Kabul police. Bashary says Paktiawal was investigating the overnight killing of three officers at the checkpoint in Kabul's western outskirts when a blast struck his team. Paktiawal was lightly wounded and two of his guards were killed.

#2: The Pakistani army said Wednesday it found the wreckage of a suspected U.S. spy plane near the Afghan border, but denied claims that it had been shot down. Three Pakistani intelligence officials earlier said troops and tribesmen had shot down the drone late Tuesday near Jalal Khel, a village in Pakistan's South Waziristan region. However, a Pakistan army statement on Wednesday said security forces had recovered the crashed surveillance aircraft. It said a technical problem appeared to have brought it down and that it was investigating further. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said one of its drones, which can be equipped with video surveillance equipment, went down Tuesday in the Afghan province bordering Waziristan. But it said coalition forces retrieved it and that no others were missing. The CIA also operates drones in the region. The three Pakistani intelligence officials said the drone was hit after circling the Angoor Ada area of South Waziristan for several hours. Wreckage was strewn on the ground, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

#3: At least three people were killed and 11 others injured in a suicide blast in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, private TV channel Express reported. The blast occurred near the Askari Park in Quetta, capital city of Balochistan province, said the report. A Frontier Constabulary convoy was targeted by a suicide bomber who blew himself up, according to private GEO TV.


Casualty Reports:

Sgt. Dane Severinson, 23, member of the 191st Military Police Company was wounded July 18 when his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. The Guard says he suffered an injury to his lower left leg.

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