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, December 24, 2007

War News for Monday, December 24, 2007

Baghdad:
#1: At least two people were killed and four wounded when a car bomb exploded near the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad. The number of casualties of the car bomb attack in the city's Salihiya neighbourhood was expected to rise, Iraq's independent al- Sharkiya TV channel reported.

#2: Two roadside bombs wounded six people in the Saidiya district in southern Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
Khalis:
#1: In the Diyala province attack, gunmen suspected of belonging to the al-Qaeda terrorist network stopped a mini-bus carrying 14 people at a fake checkpoint in Khalis district, 15 kilometres north of Baquba, reports said. The militants took the passengers to an unknown location, the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported citing an official security source.


Diwaniya:
#1: A clash erupted on Monday between Iraqi soldiers in the city of Diwaniya, during which a child was killed in the exchange of fire between them, an Iraqi army source said."A clash flared up between Iraqi soldiers from the 7th division and soldiers wearing civilian clothes from the 8th division at a military checkpoint in al-Wehda neighborhood," the source, who refused to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Kut:
#1: U.S. forces killed two gunmen and detained two others during operations in the Kut area, 170 km (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.


Dalouiya:
#1: Unknown armed men set up a fake checkpoint on Monday afternoon, east of Dalouiya, where they kidnapped a civilian with his car and took him to unknown place," the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#2: The same source said that police patrols recovered an unidentified corpse of a 30-year young man from the Tigris River at the Dalouiya wooden bridge region


Samarra:
#1: U.S. helicopter gunfire killed four gunmen planting a roadside bomb and wounded two civilians on Sunday in the city of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.


Karmak:
#1: To the north, police said an attack Sunday night on a police station on the Iraqi-Iranian border killed two policemen. The raid was in the region of Karmak, where violent attacks targeting police and the Iraqi military have been on the rise in recent weeks, the report said.


Hamdaniya:
#1: Two unidentified bodies were found in al-Hamdaniya district, 22 km east of Mosul city, on Monday morning, an official police source said."Both bodies showed signs of having been shot and were moved to a morgue in Arbil," the source, who preferred not to have his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq



Afghanistan:
#1: One police officer was killed and three were wounded when their vehicle was hit Sunday by a roadside bomb in the Wata Pur district of the eastern province of Kunar, provincial police chief Abdul Jalal said.

#2: In the southern province of Ghazni, police fought with a group of insurgents Sunday in the Gelan district, killing a local deputy commander of the Taleban and his bodyguard, said Khan Mohammad, the provincial police chief.

#3: Two civilians were killed and four were wounded Sunday in the Shah Walikot district of the southern province of Kandahar when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle, said Mohammad Omar, operational chief of the Kandahar police.

#4: A police officer and a villager were killed Sunday in the same province when a mine hidden under a body exploded in the Panjwayi district, Omar added.

#5: In the capital, eight children were wounded Monday as a rocket shell they were playing with exploded in the northern part of the city, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.


Casualty Reports:

Spc. John C. Hoxie was on foot patrol south of Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near him, and he was shot.As a result, his father says he lost his left leg, left hand and suffered extensive injuries from shrapnel to his right leg and internal organs.

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