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, May 2, 2011

War News for Monday, May 02, 2011

Iraq's oil export revenue at record high this year

April is deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq since 2009


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb planted near a police station in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City detonated and hit a passing minibus carrying passengers, killing three people and wounding 14 others, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off outside a restaurant in Abu Nawas Street in central Baghdad, wounding three people, the source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A policeman has been killed in a sticking explosive charge blast under his car in Baaquba city, the center of northeast Iraq’s Diala Province on Sunday, a Baaquba police source said. “A policeman of Baaquba Police has been killed in a blast of an explosive charge, stuck to his car in Baaquba on Sunday night,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The police source said that the victim was “a brother of high-ranking police officer in Diala Province, who was probably killed for that reason.”

#2: The Director of Passport & Nationality Department of northeast Iraq’s Diala Province, has escaped an assassination attempt, when an explosive charge blew off close to his house in Baaquba city, wounding 3 persons and causing damage to the house, a Diala police source said on Monday. “An explosive charge blew up close to the house of Diala’s Passport & Nationality Department’s Director, Brigadier Kamal al-Tamimy in central Baaquba on Monday, wounding 3 persons, including a woman, who were near to the venue of the blast and caused severe damage to the house,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Samarra:
#1: A group of unknown armed men have opened fire on a tribal chieftain in Samarra city of Salah al-Din Province, seriously wounding him, a Samarra police source said on Sunday. “A group of unknown gunmen have opened machinegun fire on one of Samarra’s leading tribal chieftains, Sheikh Ahmed Hacham al-Darrajy, in front of his house in east Samarra’s al-Huweish district, seriously injuring him in the chest,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two civilians have been killed in an explosion that took place in a fuel store in west Iraq’s Falluja city on Monday, an Anbar police source said. “The two civilians were killed, when they tried to open the door of the fuel store, that blew off due to high temperature,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Romania’s National Defense Ministry announced that three Romanian soldiers were injured on Sunday morning in Afghanistan after their tank was attacked with an explosive device. The three were evacuated to the Kandahar military hospital. A fourth military, also in the vehicle had superficial wounds and resumed his activity in the Lagman base. According to information, the incident took place on Sunday, around 5:30 AM when a tank that was in a mission with militaries from the Battalion 26 infantry Neagoe Basarab on A1 highway in Zabul province, Afghanistan was attacked with an improvised explosive device. Even though the quantity of explosives was very high, the quality of the cars used by NATO forces ensured the life of the Romanian military. The four military involved in the deflagration were George Olteanu, Marius Apostol, Daniel Riza and Nicolae Barbu.

#2: Four Pakistani police officials have been killed and six others injured after gunmen attacked vehicles carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan. The attack took place near a roadside restaurant near Attock, some 60 kilometers from the capital Islamabad, on Sunday. "The gunmen first opened fire on the tankers and after fleeing they attacked a nearby police post in which three police constables and one sub inspector were killed," AFP quoted local police official Sajid Mehmood as saying.

#3: A suicide bomber Monday attacked a joint patrol of NATO and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan, killing a policeman, officials said. The bomber rode a motorbike towards the patrol, opened fire and killed one policeman, the Helmand governor's office said in a statement. The attack took place in Sangin district. The bomber detonated his explosives-packed vest when he came close to the patrol, the statement said. There were no causalities among the foreign forces, it added.

#3: A Pakistani army helicopter was feared shot down in northern Pakistan early Monday morning, causing at least one dead and two injured, local media reported. According to local Urdu TV channel Geo, the incident took place at about 1:20 a.m. local time in a hilly area of Abbotabad, a small town lying some 60 kilometers north of the country's capital city Islamabad. The report quoted eyewitnesses as saying that heavy firings were heard before the helicopter fell down. It is not known how many people were aboard the plane which is reportedly capable of carrying eight to 10 persons. One local Urdu TV channel Ary reported that at least one person was killed and another two were injured in the crash.


DoD: Spc. Preston J. Dennis

DoD: Pfc. Robert M. Friese

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iraq Today,


My name is Barbara O’Brien and I am a political blogger. Just had a question about your blog and couldn’t find an email—please get back to me as soon as you can (barbaraobrien(at)maacenter.org)

Thanks,
Barbara

Cervantes said...

Look at the sidebar for our e-mail addresses.

Dancewater said...

I think that is spam - I got that message in both my blogs, so did other lefty blogs. I recommend not answering, and "Barbara" will likely not be back.