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 7, 2007

Security Incidents for Tuesday, August 07, 2007


Photo: The remains of a Polish Army Humvee burns near Diwaniyah, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007. Polish troops struck a roadside bomb 15 kilometers (10 miles) north of Diwaniyah, police said. There was no information about casualties. (AP Photo/Jalal Mudhar)


(1) The Turkish Press/AFP is reporting on a statement from CENTCOM saying that four U.S. soldiers died in combat in the vicinity of Ba'qubah in Diyala Province on Monday, August 6th. In addition, 12 U.S. soldiers were wounded in the incident. MNF-Iraq has confirmed the deaths of four Task Force Lightning soldiers in Diyala Province on Monday, August 6th. They died from injuries sustained in "an explosion while conducting combat operations".

(2) The DoD has announced a new death, not previously reported by CENTCOM. Air Force Technical Sergeant Joey D. Link, 29, of Portland, Tennessee, died of "natural causes" at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on Sunday, August 5th. According to the DoD release, he was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and was normally based at Dyess AFB in Texas. No further information is available at this point.

(3) MNF- Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from an explosively formed penetrator that detonated in a western neighborhood of Baghdad on Monday, August 6th.

(4) The DoD is apparently announcing three new deaths, not previously reported by CENTCOM. Three soldiers died just south of the Baghdad city limit in the vicinity of the town of Hawr Rajab (Hor Rijab) when struck by an improvised explosive device:

Sergeant Dustin S. Wakeman, 25, of Fort Worth, Texas
Corporal Jason K. Lafleur, 28, of Ignacio, Colorado
Private 1st Class Jaron D. Holliday, 21, of Tulsa, Oklahoma

Their unit, the 1st Squadron of the 40th Cavalry Regiment (25th Infantry Division out of Fort Richardson, AK), has been operating in an area between Baghdad and Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. A date of death was not given in the release. However, the Associated Press is reporting that the deaths occurred on Saturday, August 4th. Multi-National Corps – Iraq released this

(5) The British Ministry of Defense has announced the death of a 2nd Battalion, The Royal Welsh Regiment soldier in a small arms fire attack in the Basra City district of Al Fursi on Monday, August 6th.

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Baghdad:
#1: Three Task Force Marne Soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device struck their convoy August 4, south of Baghdad.

#2: One Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed and another wounded when an explosively-formed penetrator detonated targeting their vehicle during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 6.

#3: Four people were killed and six wounded by a mortar strike in the Kamaliya neighbourhood of eastern Baghdad, police said.

#4: The Iraqi army killed one insurgent and arrested 93 during the last 24 hours in various districts of Baghdad, the Defence Ministry said.
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Diyala Prv:
#1: Four Task Force Lightning Soldiers died as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion while conducting combat operations in Diyala province, Monday. Twelve other Soldiers were also wounded in the incident and were taken to a Coalition Forces’ medical treatment facility. All received minor injuries and were returned to duty.

#2: Five insurgents were killed by a U.S. air strike and ten detained in a three-day joint Iraqi-U.S. military operation beginning on Saturday in a village near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

Baquba:
#1: An Iraqi photographer working for the U.S. Associated Press (AP) news agency was kidnapped in an attack in central Baaquba, Diala province, on Tuesday, an official Iraqi police source said. "An armed group kidnapped Talal Ahmed Abdullah, a photographer for the AP in Diala, on Tuesday morning," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity, due to security concerns.

#2: A governmental source said that gunmen kidnapped 5 guards from Husseiniyat Al Khwelis (Al Khwelis Shiite mosque) north of Baquba city yesterday around 9,30 pm.

#3: A source in the 5th Iraqi army division said that a soldier was killed and 3 others wounded in a suicide car bomb targeted their check point near Arab Shoka village north of Baquba city today early morning.

#4: A civilian was wounded when gunmen opened fire in Al Hded village north of Baquba city today morning .

#5: Police found a body of a civilian in a Hded village north of baquba city early morning today.


Muqdadiyah:
#1: A child was killed and another wounded when gunmen opened fire randomly in Baloor neighborhood in Muqdadiyah town east of Baquba city today morning.


Karbala:
#1: An Iraqi policeman opened fire Tuesday on a crowd of civilians queuing outside an ice factory in Karbala, killing three people and wounding seven others in an apparently random shooting, an Iraqi police source said. The policeman has been arrested and he is currently being interrogated. No information was given as to a possible motive for the attack.


Kut:
#1: a correspondent for state-run al-Sabah newspaper disappeared on Monday in the city of Kut, a Baghdad-based media watchdog body said on Tuesday. Hassan Shahid al-Azzawi had visited a local market before heading to work, but mysteriously disappeared, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) said in a statement. His colleagues and relatives have been searching for him.


Hilla:
#1: Three policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in the city of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: It is with deep sorrow that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh as a result of a small arms fire attack during an operation in Basra, southern Iraq, last night, Monday 6 August 2007. The attack occurred at approximately 2320 hours local time in the Al Fursi district of Basra City.

#2: British forces killed one insurgent when they were attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and light weapons as they were conducting a search raid in the southern city of Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, the British forces said.


Hawija:
#1: A source in Daqooq town police said that a security forces killed a woman and injured a child who was with her inside a pick up car. The incident happened on Hawija- Kirkuk motor way yesterday evening. No more information were provided about the incident.

#2: A woman was injured when gunmen shot her after raiding her house in Al Tanak neighborhood inside Hawija town west of Kirkuk.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found a body of a taxi driver who had been kidnapped five days ago. The police found the body in Qarhanjeer village east Kirkuk yesterday evening.

#2: 3 policemen were injured when gunmen attacked their check point in Brima village west Kirkuk yesterday evening.


Mosul:
#1: A source in the morgue of Mosul city said that the morgue received the bodies of 7 civilians who were killed in separated incidents in the western neighborhoods of Mosul city yesterday Monday.


Tal Afar:
#1: (update) The police chief of Tal Afar MG Wathiq Al Hamdani said that the final result of the explosion of Tal Afar town increased into 30 killed and 32 injured.


Al Anbar Prv:
Haditha:
#1: An explosive charge went off on Monday near a U.S. patrol in the city of Haditha, destroying a U.S. Hummer, eyewitnesses said. "Unknown gunmen planted a roadside bomb on a road in al-Wadi al-Akhdar (the Green Valley) region between Haditha and Aana cities. The bomb was detonated at 11:00 am near a U.S. vehicle patrol, destroying a Hummer," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Afghanistan:
#1: Taliban militants clashed with police in two separate incidents in southern Afghanistan, leaving five militants and two officers dead, officials said Tuesday. The militants attacked police at a checkpoint in Shinkay district in Zabul province on Monday, and the ensuing clash left five suspected militants dead, said Ali Kheil, the spokesman for Zabul's governor. There were no police casualties, he said. Authorities recovered the militants' bodies alongside three motorbikes used in the attack, Kheil said.
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#2: Also Monday, militants attacked a police vehicle just outside Kandahar city, killing two officers and wounding eight others, said provincial police chief Syed Agha Saqib. The attackers escaped and police are hunting for them, he said.

#3: Also in southern Afghanistan, Dutch soldiers fatally shot a motorcyclist who approached their convoy and failed to heed warning signals and shots, the Dutch Defense Ministry said.

#4: Helicopter gunships and artillery on Tuesday bombarded two militant hideouts that had been used to launch attacks on security forces in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border, the Pakistani army said. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said forces targeted a pair of compounds in Daygan, a village about 10 miles west of North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah after receiving "credible intelligence that militants were present there." It appeared to be the army's toughest military action in the lawless border region after a month of escalating violence, and came a day after foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said al-Qaida and the Taliban had no safe havens in the tribal zone. Cobra helicopter gunships and artillery launched the attack early in the morning and it lasted about four hours, Arshad said. No ground forces were used in the assault, and there was no immediate word on militant casualties.

#5: Two missiles were fired at a Polish military base in Afghanistan on Monday night, with no reports of casualties, the Polish Defense Ministry said Tuesday. "Two missiles were fired at the Sharan base at around 23:00 Poland time. There was no loss of life or property damage," the ministry spokesman Jaroslaw Rybak was quoted as saying by the Polish PAP news agency.


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