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, August 6, 2007

Security Incidents for Monday, August 06, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from enemy action in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday, August 5th.

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Baghdad:
#1: A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and two Soldiers were wounded during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 5.

#2: In southern Baghdad, more than eight Iraqis were killed and nine injured when an explosive device detonated inside the main bus station in the Baghdad suburb of Jisr Diyala, a police source told Voices of Iraq.

#3: A bomb in a bus killed two people and wounded nine others, including women and children, in Baghdad's eastern Shi'ite neighbourhood of Ghadir, police said.

#4: More than ten mortars fell in the early hours of Monday onto the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, eyewitnesses said. "Over ten mortars landed into the Green Zone in central Baghdad," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen killed a police commando outside his home on Sunday in the central Iraqi city of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: A high-voltage electricity transmission tower fell down during clashes between British forces and gunmen in northern Basra, an official security source said on Monday. "Clashes broke out on Sunday night between British forces and unknown gunmen in Basra's northern neighborhood of al-Haritha, leading to the collapse of electricity transmission tower no. 77," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). No casualties were reported on either side, the source indicated.


Shirqat:
#1: Police found the bodies of five Iraqi soldiers in the northern town of Shirqat, police said


Doualiya:
#1: Six Iraqis were killed and 30 wounded, including women and children, Monday in a US airstrike in the city of Doualiya in Salah Eddin province, an Iraqi security source said. The source, speaking from provincial capital Tikrit, said a US helicopter had fired into some Iraqis who were guarding their houses at dawn, the source added. The source said the victims had been holding weapons to protect themselves from the militants frequently raiding Doualiya located 100 kilometres of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.


Hawija:
#1: Police said they found the bodies of two people near the town of Hawija, north of Baghdad.


Tal Afar:
#1: At least 36 Iraqis were killed and 59 wounded in two blasts Monday in Baghdad and in the northern city of Talafar, sources said. A suicide truck bomb driven into a densely populated Shiite area in Talafar killed at least 28 Iraqis, including 12 children, Abdul- Karim al-Jabouri, Ninewa province police chief, told the independent Voices of Iraq news agency. Over 50 Iraqis were injured in the attack, eight of whom were women, the source added.


Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: One Iraqi policeman was killed and two others, including a civilian, were wounded in an explosive device attack in Fallujah, Anbar province, on Monday, an Iraqi police source said. "The device targeted an Iraqi police patrol that pushed deep into al-Baath neighborhood, central Fallujah, where a civilian passer-by was severely wounded," the source, who asked not to have his name mentioned out of security concerns, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

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