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


Saturday, December 15, 2007

War News for Saturday, December 15, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division – North Soldier in a small-arms fire attack in Ninewa Province on Friday, December 14th.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A pair of synchronized roadside bombings targeting an Iraqi patrol killed two civilians in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, police said. The second bomb detonated about two minutes after the first, hitting onlookers who had gathered at the site, police said. Two civilians were killed and nine injured.

2 civilians were killed and 2 policemen were injured in an IED explosion in Al Alif Dar area (the 1000 houses area)in New Baghdad neighborhood east Baghdad around 7,30 am. The explosion was preceded by another IED in the same place which didn’t cause any casualties and after people gathered, the 2nd explosion.

#2: Gunmen attacked a patrol in another northern area, killing one patrol member and wounding four. In the southern Doura neighbourhood, another former Sunni militant stronghold, gunmen wounded three patrol members manning a checkpoint.

3 members of Doura Sahwa were injured when they were attacked from one of the houses in Al Kafa’at area in Doura neighborhood south Baghdad around 12,30 pm.

#3: In other news, four Iraqis, including two policemen, were wounded when an explosive devise went off near a police patrol in the New Baghdad area, eastern Baghdad, VOI reported quoting local authorities.

#4: Gunmen opened fire killing a traffic policemen inside his car in New Baghdad area east Baghdad around 8,30 am.

#5: 2 members of Adhemiyah Sahwa were killed and 10 others were injured in an IED explosion that targeted the center of Sahwa in Eshreen Street in Adhemiyah neighborhood north Baghdad around 12,30 pm.

#6: 2 civilians were injured when gunmen opened fire targeting their car in Waziriyah neighborhood east Baghdad around 12,30 pm.

#7: A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb prematurely before reaching a police checkpoint in Bayaa district in southwestern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding three, police said.


Diyala Prv:
Muqdadiyah:
#1: In northern and central Iraq, meanwhile, U.S. forces targeting al-Qaida in Iraq detained 18 suspects and killed four Friday, the military said. In one of the raids, outside Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the target was a group the military said was involved in gunfire attacks on American forces. Three suspects were killed in a U.S. airstrike, the military said. After the airstrike, their vehicle blew up, indicating it had been storing explosives, the military said.

#2: On Saturday, the forces conducted another operation north-east of Muqdadiyah, targeting an alleged senior facilitator for al-Qaeda in Iraq, where one militant was killed. Other raids were carried out across north and west of Baghdad and the northern Salahaddin province.


Karbala:
#1: Two children were killed and two others wounded when a cluster bomb went off in southern Karbala on Saturday afternoon, a local police media spokesman said. "A cluster bomb exploded in a football field near southern Karbala's al-Ghadeer neighborhood, killing two children and injuring two others," Rahman Mishawi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The bomb was one remaining from the 2003 war, the source added.


Douluiya:
#1: In an exchange of fire between militants and Iraqi policemen plus Awakening Council armed members, one person was killed and four policemen were wounded, local authorities said Saturday. A police source from the Dolouiya police department, 100 kilometres north of Baghdad, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that a member of the so-called Awakening Council, an anti-al-Qaeda group, was killed early Saturday in the firefight.


Ninewa Province:
#1: A Multi-National Division – North Soldier was killed Dec. 14 in a small-arms fire attack in Ninewa Province.

Mosul:
#1: Clashes happened between Iraqi police and gunmen in Al Karama neighborhood in the west bank of Mosul city north of Baghdad yesterday night, police killed Abo Salih Al Saudi, the prince of Qaida in Mosul city.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: A policeman was wounded on Saturday morning with a sniper's bullet in Falluja city, a police source said. "The policeman was on duty at al-Shrutah police station watchtower in central Falluja when he was hit by a sniper's bullet," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq



Afghanistan:
#1: A vehicle packed with rockets exploded across the street from the Kabul police headquarters Saturday, killing five civilians and injuring at least 24 others, Afghan officials said. Three police officers were among the injured. Police officials said the blast, shortly after 8 a.m., was caused by a suicide bomber, but witnesses said they thought the vehicle, a small truck, had been parked by the side of the street. The explosion, in the center of the capital so close to the police headquarters, was a blow for the Afghan government and the public, at a time when the city is full of shoppers ahead of the Muslim festival Eid-ul-Athha, which starts next week.

#2: The second bomb was remote-controlled and detonated near the city's main jail, causing only minor damage to a military vehicle, the defence ministry said.

#3: In other violence, police in eastern Paktia province said a policeman and four Taliban were killed Friday after the Islamic rebels ambushed a police vehicle escorting a fuel tanker supplying the NATO-led military force.

#4: Three other Taliban were killed Friday when a bomb they were trying to plant exploded in neighbouring Paktika province, local official Ghamai Khan told AFP.

#5: Separately, armed assailants pulled three Afghan soldiers out of a vehicle in the northern province of Balkh early Saturday and shot them, killing one, said district police commander Mohammad Asif.

0 comments: