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, May 15, 2007

Security Incidents for Tuesday, May 15, 2007



Baghdad:
#1: While conducting a combat security patrol, a Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed and four others were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated in a northern part of the Iraqi capital May 14.

#2: One MNC-I Airmen was killed and three other Airmen were wounded by an improvised explosive device at approximately 3:55 p.m. May 14 in southern Baghdad

#3: In central Baghdad, a pair of bombs hidden in plastic bags exploded Tuesday afternoon within minutes in two shops selling CDs and cigarettes in Tayaran Square. Police said at least seven people were killed and 17 wounded.

#4: Iraqi soldiers killed 16 insurgents and arrested 109 others during the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

#5: Unidentified gunmen killed Iraqi army Col. Raed Ahmed Shihab in Baghdad as he drove in the city, police said. He had worked for the Iraqi ministry of defense

#6: A roadside bomb apparently hit a U.S. convoy in the Kamalia area of southeastern Baghdad. Associated Press TV video showed one of the convoy's trucks burning and two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters circling overhead. Later, when the fire went out, Iraq men and young boys were shown on the footage looting what remained of the truck

#7: Mortar rounds slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Tuesday. The attack occurred just before 4 p.m., with at least two rounds exploding in the Green Zone and two others across the Tigris River on Abu Nawas Street, police said. The U.S. Embassy confirmed explosions in the Green Zone but said no casualties were immediately reported. "Preliminary information indicates that there were no casualties and minimal damage," embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said.

* A mortar or rocket slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, wounding five American Embassy contractors, a spokesman said. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said there were no deaths and property damage was minimal. He said the contractors' nationalities had "not yet been confirmed."

#8: Police found the bodies of Basim Abdul-Ilah, a director in the Iraq Industry Ministry, and two of his bodyguards in Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement. They had been abducted by gunmen on Sunday.

* #9: Several hours later, suspected insurgents fired four mortar shells at a fruit and vegetable wholesale market near Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City, killing four civilians and wounding 11, according to police and hospital officials.

* #10: Two Soldiers were killed and four wounded when their dismounted patrol came under small arms fire southeast of Baghdad today

* #11: Iraqi police patrols on Tuesday found 15 unknown bodies dumped in different parts of Baghdad, a source from interior ministry said. "The bodies had shot wounds in various parts of the body and bore marks of torture," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Diyala province, about 50 suspected insurgents attacked the small Shiite village of Parwanah al-Saghirah about 60 miles north of Baghdad early Tuesday, killing five people and wounding 14, Iraqi army and police officers said. Locals guarding the area on the outside of the village fought back for about an hour, and an undetermined number of insurgents were killed or wounded, the officers said

* #2: At least four Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Tuesday when an explosive charge was detonated near an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in Muqdadiyah district, eastern Diala, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, a police source said.

* #3: Two civilians were killed and one was injured in Al Khalis city in two separated incidents today. Gunmen killed a citizen in southern the city in an area called Arab Shawka area. in the second incident one citizen was killed and one was injured by gunmen in Shwikhrat area northern the city.

* #4: Around 6:30 p.m. suicide car bomb exploded in Abu Saida town in the market killing 12 and injuring 22 civilians.


Karbala:
#1: Ninety-one unidentified bodies were buried on Tuesday in a cemetery in Karbala after being taken from a morgue in Baghdad, an official source in Karbala said. "The bodies were buried in a cemetery in al-Wadi al-Jadid, 5 km south of Karbala, after they had been numbered and photographed so that they could be identified in the future by their next of kin," the source, who requested his name not be mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Mahmoudiya:
#1: At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday a bomb hidden in a minibus leaving a bus stop on a main road in Mahmoudiya exploded, wounding three Iraqi passengers, police said.

#2: Two civilians were killed and four wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Iskandariyah:
#1: In addition, an Iraqi army patrol was attacked by unknown gunmen in the Iskandariyah town, 50 km south of Baghdad, killing a soldier and wounding two others, the police said.

* Hilla:
#1: An Iraqi army soldier was killed and four people, including two soldiers, were wounded on Tuesday in attack on an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in north of Hilla, a police source said. "Unidentified gunmen ambushed an Iraqi army vehicle in al-Ubaydat region, north of Hilla city, and showered it with bullets," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Basra:
* #1: The joint operations center in al-Hakemiya region in central Basra came under Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack this morning, he also noted, adding that the attack caused no damage inside the center.


Tikrit:
#1: A policeman and a civilian were killed and a woman was wounded when gunmen attacked a police checkpoint near Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Ishaqi:
#1: Gunmen kidnapped three civilians on Monday night at a fake checkpoint near the town of Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Elsewhere, a car bomb parking at a commercial area in the Iraqi city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, wounding four people, a local police source said, citing first police report.

#2: Four Iraqi soldiers were wounded in an attack by a suicide car bomber on their checkpoint near Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, an Iraqi army spokesman said


Kirkuk:
#1: According to police officer Abbas Mohamed, an armed group dressed up as members of the Iraqi army set up a fake checkpoint from the suburbs of Kirkuk on Tuesday and kidnapped five civilians. Four of the victims were Shiite Turkmen, who were on their way back from Tikrit.


Hawija:
#1: One person was killed and two wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in Hawija, 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West was killed May 14 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.

#2: Unknown armed men gunned down an off duty policeman in a street in the restive city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#3: Separately, a roadside bomb detonated near a civilian car in the Albu-Hatem area, just west of Fallujah, damaging the car and killing the driver, the source said.

#4: Another roadside bomb went off near a U.S. patrol while passing in the Hissi area, southwest of the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, the source added. The blast damaged a U.S. Humvee, he said, but the U.S. troops did not confirm the incident.




Afghanistan:
#1: At least 11 suspected Taliban members and possibly dozens more were killed by airstrikes Tuesday on their compounds in southern Afghanistan, officials said. While the Afghan Defense Ministry said that 11 Taliban insurgents were killed in the Zhari district of Kandahar Province, the provincial police chief said that more than 60 died, including three regional commanders. Many other suspected insurgents were wounded, said the police chief, Esmatullah Alizai. He said no civilians had been killed or wounded. Casualty tolls from remote battle sites in Afghanistan often vary widely, and the number of casualties could not be independently verified.

#2: In eastern Paktika Province, insurgents ambushed a police patrol early Tuesday and the ensuing two-hour clash left two police officers and a militant dead, said Ghamai Khan, a spokesman for the governor.

* #3: An Irish freelance photographer was recovering in hospital today after being wounded during fighting in Afghanistan. John McHugh had been in the war-torn country for around a month working for the New York Times embedded with US troops in Kunar province in the east of the country. It is understood he was with US forces when they came under mortar fire on Sunday evening. He suffered shrapnel wounds to his body and was airlifted to Baghran air base for treatment. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. Several US troops were also injured in the attack.

0 comments: