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 3, 2007

War News for Monday, December 03, 2007

Baghdad:
#1: Around 9 a.m. gunmen in Al Eskan area killed a high ranking officer who works as an inspector in the ministry of interior and injured his driver.

Major General Fawzi Mohammed Hussein, an advisor to Interior Minister Jawad Bolani, was killed by unidentified gunmen while driving in his car in west Baghdad, a security official said. The general's driver was wounded in the attack, which was carried out by gunmen driving a Dodge car, the official said.

#2: The Iraqi army killed two gunmen and and arrested 35 others during the last 24 hours in different areas across Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.


Kut:
#1: Several mortar bombs wounded three policemen when they landed in a police station in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a security source said.


Numaniya:
#1: Five rockets were fired at a base of Georgian troops in Numaniya 120 km (72 miles) south of Baghdad. One landed inside the base, causing minor damage but no casualties, the U.S. Military said


Samarra:
#1: Gunmen killed the headmaster of a secondary school in a drive-by shooting in central Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Riyadh:
#1: Gunmen killed four policemen on Sunday when they ambushed them near the town of Riyadh, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: The mutilated bodies of four guards at an oil facility who were kidnapped at a checkpoint on their way back from vacation were found north of Baghdad on Monday, said Col. Khali al-Zubaie, a spokesman for the Iraqi army in Kirkuk. A fifth man who disappeared with them remained missing, he said.

#2: Unidentified gunmen driving two vehicles opened fire on the car of Sheikh Ata Allah Iskandar Habib, a member of al-Huweija Awakening Council, killing him and his personal driver on the spot," an official source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The gunmen set the two bodies on fire at the scene of the attack in southern al-Huweija, a mainly Sunni Arab district, the source indicated.


Mosul:
#1: in the area of Somer, southeastern Mosul, while on their standard duty," Brig. Abdul-Kareem al-Juburi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Clashes erupted after the incident between U.S. forces and Iraqi police on one hand and gunmen on the other, leaving seven gunmen killed," said Juburi.

Gunmen attacked a police patrol, killing four policemen and wounding two others in southeastern Mosul. The police killed three of the gunmen and U.S. forces nearby killed four of the gunmen.

#2: Two unidentified bodies were found by policemen in southeastern Mosul on Monday morning, an official security source in Ninewa police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
Lake Tharthar:
#1: A mass grave containing the remains of 12 people, including a paramedic who disappeared more than a year ago, was unearthed in central Iraq in an area long controlled by al-Qaida, officials said Monday. Iraqi troops unearthed the bodies Sunday afternoon near Lake Tharthar, a man-made body of water about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad that has been the site of several mass graves found in recent months.

Ramadi:
#1: A suicide car bomb struck a police checkpoint, killing three policemen and wounding another on Sunday, in northern Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: In an air strike in the Musa Qaleh district, the coalition forces destroyed a vehicle and killed all the five occupants, including one presumed to be a senior Taliban commander, the statement said.

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