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


Thursday, June 21, 2007




Iraqi boys hold a melted American M-16 assault rifle after a roadside bomb struck an US military convoy in al-Jamiah area in western Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, June 21, 2007. One humvee was destroyed in the blast but there were no other reports on the casualties. (AP Photo/Asaad Mouhsin)
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(1) MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of two Task Force Marne soldiers in a roadside bomb attack southwest of Baghdad on Wednesday, June 20th. Another four soldiers were wounded in the blast.
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(2) CENTCOM is reporting the deaths of two Marines from enemy action in Al Anbar Province on Wednesday, June 20th.
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(3) CENTCOM is also reporting the deaths of four Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldiers in a roadside bombing in a western neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday, June 20th. One other soldier was injured in the attack.
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(4) CENTCOM is reporting the deaths of five Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldiers in yet another roadside bombing in a northeastern part of Baghdad on Thursday, June 21st. The attack also killed three Iraqi civilians and an Iraqi interpreter. One other soldier and two Iraqi civilians were wounded.
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(5) CENTCOM is also reporting the death of a Multi-National Corps - Iraq soldier when his vehicle was struck by a rocket propelled grenade in a northern part of Baghdad on Thursday, June 21st. Three soldiers were wounded in the attack.
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(6) It has come to our attention [see this article from Tucson (Arizona) station KOLD] that the Yuma (Arizona) Sun reported the death of Sergeant Frank Sandoval on Monday, June 18th, in error. The young man remains alive on life support at his family's wishes until his organs can be successfully harvested for transplant to others urgently in need of them. He is expected to be removed from life support later this week. He has been removed from our database for now, but will be re-instated when his death is officially confirmed.
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(7) According to a piece in the London Sun, the British soldier killed in Basra on Wednesday, June 20th, was an officer who was by himself in a fortified watchtower when it took a direct hit from a barrage of four rockets early in the morning, killing him instantly. His name is expected to be released later today.
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(8) ISAF is reporting the death of a NATO soldier in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 21st, when his vehicle struck a landmine. The soldier was evacuated to a medical facility but died there of his wounds. Another soldier was also wounded seriously enough to be evacuated. Three soldiers were lightly wounded and treated at the scene.
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In Country:
#1: The number of Iraqi civilians killed in political violence edged to a new record high in December, data from Interior Ministry officials obtained exclusively by Reuters showed on Tuesday. The ministry's statistics are not published officially, and are widely viewed as only a partial record of violent deaths but nevertheless indicative of the trend over time. Here is a breakdown of the 2006 figures, as obtained each month by Reuters:
Civilians Iraqi Army Police January 548 18 82 February 545 21 71 March 782 28 145 April 688 25 59 May 935 29 99 June 889 43 78 July 1,065 63 79 August 769 80 75 September 1,089 37 103 October 1,289 19 120 November 1,850 26 102 December 1,930 25 125 TOTAL 12,320 602 1,231


Baghdad:
#1: Two Task Force Marne Soldiers were killed and four were wounded when improvised explosive devices exploded near their vehicle southwest of Baghdad June 20.

#2: Insurgents fired some three mortar rounds on Thursday onto Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi parliament and site of the US and British embassies. The attacks caused no casualties, an official at the US mission said.

#3: Iraqi police said a roadside bomb blew apart what appeared to be a U.S. Humvee in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Jami'a in western Baghdad. AP Television News footage showed pieces of the armored vehicle that were barely large enough to distinguish. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

#4: Fierce clashes took place Thursday morning between Iraqi army forces and militants in the Adhamiya neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, the Iraqi Independent News Agency reported. Police sources told the news agency that the clashes erupted following a blast near an Iraqi army checkpoint in Adhamiya, a predominantly Sunni district and traditionally a Baath party stronghold.

Fierce clashes flared up on Thursday morning between Iraqi army forces and gunmen in al-Aadhamiyah neighborhood in northern Baghdad after a blast near an Iraqi army checkpoint, a police source said. "The blast occurred near Antar square in northern Baghdad, but no casualties were reported," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "U.S. choppers hovered over the area and Iraqi forces cordoned off the scene," they added

#5: Five Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and one Iraqi interpreter were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near a Coalition vehicle during combat operations in a northeastern section of Baghdad June 21. One other Soldier and two Iraq civilians were also wounded in the attack.

#6: Four Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers were killed when their convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in a western Baghdad neighborhood June 20. One other Soldier was wounded in the attack.

#7: One MNC-I Soldier was killed and three Soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was attacked by a rocket propelled grenade at approximately 12:30 p.m. June 21 in northern Baghdad.


Diyala Prv:
#1: The latest military report on the Diyala offensive said U.S.-led forces had killed 41 insurgents, discovered five weapons caches and destroyed 25 bombs and five booby-trapped houses.

Baqquba:
#1: A U.S. airstrike aimed at a booby-trapped house in one of the centers of those offensives, the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, missed its target and "accidentally hit" another structure, wounding 11 civilians, the military said, adding the incident was under investigation.

#2: Around Thursday noon, terrorists bombed a primary school in Qara Taba village (north of Baquba) causing great damage to the building. While two days ago a school and mosque were bombed in Kinaan village ( south of Baquba).

Khalis:
#1: Around Thursday noon, Khalis hospital (15 km north of Baquba) has received 3 dead bodies in two different incidents
Bahriz:
#1: At least three civilians were killed and 15 others were injured on Thursday when Bahraz town, Diala province, was attacked by mortar shells, a police source said. "An armed group attacked at dawn Bahraz town, south of Baaquba, using mortar shells, killing three civilians and injuring 15, including women and children," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq
Kanaan:
#1: Meanwhile, the same source said that unidentified gunmen blew up the (Shiite) Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim mosque in Kanaan district, south of Baaquba. "The gunmen stormed the mosque and planted bombs inside," the source also said, noting that the blast destroyed the mosque completely. "The attack caused no casualties," he noted.


Hilla:
#1: The director of a branch office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr near the southern city of Hillah also was killed in a drive-by shooting, police said, declining to be identified due to security concerns.


Iskandariyah:
#1: a police official said a local representative of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his bodyguard were shot dead in the town of Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad.

a local representative of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his bodyguard were shot dead on Thursday in the town of Iskandiriyah, a police official said.


Basra:
#1: Wednesday night, an employee of Zubair citizenship directorate (30 km west of Basra) was assassinated by gunmen.

#2: Wednesday night, the directorate of Basra citizenship (colonel Fadhil Abass ) is survived from an assassination attack in Ashar city in the midtown of the city.


Suleiman Bec:
#1: A suicide bomber exploded an oil tanker south of Iraq's oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing 12 people and wounding 70, including policemen and local politicians. The bomber blew up the tanker outside police headquarters and a cluster of government buildings in the town of Suleiman Beg, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the northern city of Kirkuk, police and hospital officials said. "Several of the wounded are city council members and police officers, including the chief of police in Suleiman Beg, Hassan Ali Al-Bayati," a local hospital official said. The attack gutted the police headquarters and two local administration buildings and fires raged near the blast crater, said a police officer from the nearby town of Tuz Khurmatu.

A suicide bomber killed at least 18 people when he rammed a truck into a government building in northern Iraq on Thursday, partially knocking it down and demolishing nearby homes, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Around 11.30 am, gunmen killed a corporal of the Iraqi army in the fourth battalion on the mid way between Kirkuk and Biji while he was on his way to Al-Sufra village which is one of the villages of Riadh district west of Kirkuk.

#2: Around 11.15 pm of Wednesday night, a roadside bomb exploded when a joint forces from Iraqi and the multi national forces where on the way of Kirkuk airport having no casualties recorded.
#3: A gas pipeline was sabotaged last night in Kirkuk, 255 kilometers north of Baghdad, Northern Oil and Gas Company said in a statement Thursday. The pipeline connecting the city's gas fields with the power plants to the southwestern part of it was attacked with an improvised explosive device yesterday at about 10:00 pm local time, according to the statement. It added that the pipeline was shut as technical and engineering teams attempt to repair it. The attack was part of a series of anonymous sabotage operations that targeted pipelines in the gas network connecting power plants and gas canister factories north of Baghdad


Hawija:
#1: Around 11.30 pm of Wednesday night, gunmen opened fire on Hawija residents (south west of Kirkuk) injuring one resident who was taken at once to Bakara hospital for medical treatment.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two Marines assigned to Multi National Force-West were killed June 20 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.




Afghanistan:
#1: One ISAF soldier died today during operations in eastern Afghanistan. The soldier was in a vehicle when it struck a landmine. The deceased, along with another soldier, was medically evacuated to an ISAF treatment facility where he died of wounds. The other soldier is being treated for minor wounds. Three other soldiers were slightly wounded in the blast and were treated at the scene.

#2: The U.N. World Food Program has halted deliveries in Afghanistan's most volatile provinces after 85 of its trucks were attacked, set ablaze or looted this past year by Taliban insurgents and thieves, its director said Thursday.

#3: Troops from the US-led coalition and the Afghan army carried out an operation against "an important group of enemies" in Paktika province late yesterday, said the province's governor. Seven suspected militants were killed and seven others were held for questioning, he said

#4: Unknown armed men kidnapped five Afghan doctors in the northeastern Nooristan province, a local official said today The doctors and their drivers were abducted in Norgaran district yesterday when they were returning from a local clinic, head of provincial health department Hazrat Shah told Xinhua. Provincial governor Tamim Nooristani confirmed the incident, saying investigation is underway.
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