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, November 29, 2007

War News for Thursday, November 29, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from small-arms fire in an western neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday, November 28th.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The roadside bomb hit a public bus on Thursday morning, injuring six passengers on the main Palestine road in north-east Baghdad, police sources told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

Security officials also reported that a bomb exploded inside a bus in Baghdad’s central Palestine Street, killing one person and wounding five.

#2: Small-arms fire killed one Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier in a western section of the Iraqi capital Nov. 28.

#3: A roadside bomb near a minibus wounded five people near a hospital in central Baghdad, police said.

#4: U.S. helicopters killed three gunmen when they attacked a U.S. convoy on Tuesday, southeast of Baghdad, the military said.

#5: Iraqi soldiers killed one gunman and detained 47 other suspects in different areas of Iraq in the past 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said.

#6: Police found ( 6 ) unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad: ( 4 ) were found in west Baghdad ( Karkh bank) ; 2 in Doura , 1 in Saidiyah and 1 Toubchi . While ( 2 ) were found in east bank ( Risafa bank ) ; 1 in Sinak( Bab Al-Sharji ) and 1 in Palestine street.


Diyala Prv::
#1: Unknown gunmen positioned a fake checkpoint on the main road near Albo Shahen village, 45 km northeast of Baaquba, and kidnapped 14 civilians after intercepted their mini-bus," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Khan Bani Saad:
#1: US forces killed two and detained five militants in the village of Khan Bani Saad, north of Baghdad, in an early morning raid targeting a Shiite militant suspected of involvement in smuggling bombs from Iran into Iraq.

Baquba:
#1: Twelve people were killed and 25 wounded in a Katyusha rocket attack in al-Salam village near the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Mortars hit Al-Salam area ( Anbakiyah and Shahin villages ) killing 12 people and injuring 25 others

#2: Gunmen opened fire on the general brigadier ( Hamid Ibrahim) the head of Hibhib police at Hidayda area in Baquba injuring two of his guards.

#3: Mortars hit Al-Salam police station in Baquba injuring two policemen

Kanaan:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded at Kinaan area in Baquba injuring two people.

Muqdadiyah:
#1: Mortars hit Al-Jazeera village in Al-Muqdadiyah ( 45 km north east Baquba) injuring two people .


Tikrit:
#1: In another attack, the home of another district council head in the city was badly damaged by a bomb.

Gunmen killed the mayor of a district in central Tikrit, 175 km (125 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, police said.


Hawija:
#1: Around 2.30 p.m., gunmen opened fire on Hawijah district mayor ( Amar Mohammad Al-Hamadani ) as he was in a convoy on the way home in Hawijah ( west of Kirkuk). He was injured and one of his guards was killed .


Kirkuk:
#1: In the northern city of Kirkuk, the head of a district council was killed by armed men outside his home, a police officer, Badr Hamid, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

#2: Gunmen killed two men in a drive-by shooting on Wednesday in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: Wednesday night , a roadside targeted a patrol for the Iraqi army near Kharbat Aziz on Kirkuk- Biji road ( west Kirkuk) injuring two ( one officer and another soldier ) with some damage to the vehicle.

#4: Around 4.30 of Wednesday afternoon, a roadside targeted an Iraqi army patrol near ( Salih Abid) of Riadh ( west of Kirkuk ) injuring one injuring one of the officers .

#5: Around 2 p.m., a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi guards’ convoy on the border between Iraq and Iran near Bamo village killing two ( one officer and a soldier ) with full destroy to their car.


Mosul:
#1: A car bomb wounded two policemen in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: The school principal, Fazel Mir, was shot to death Wednesday morning in Khost province, said Wazir Pacha, spokesman for the provincial police.

#2: In Ghazni province, meanwhile, Taliban insurgents ambushed police Wednesday in Khogyani district, and the ensuing clash killed one policeman and four suspected militants, said deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Zaman.

#3: Also Wednesday, militants in Paktia province attacked trucks carrying supplies for foreign troops, killing one driver, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor.

#4: In neighboring Paktika province, a roadside bomb hit Afghan troops on Wednesday, leaving one soldier dead and three wounded, Darwesh said.

#5: The five soldiers died when a bomb hit their pickup truck about 20 miles from Miran Shah, the main town in the troubled North Waziristan border region, officials said. Four more soldiers were wounded in the blast, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said on Dawn News television. He provided no other details.

#6: Afghan and foreign troops fought against Taliban militants and called in airstrikes in southern Afghanistan, leaving 30 fighters dead, an Afghan police chief said Thursday. The joint forces attacked militants hiding inside two compounds on Wednesday in the Zhari district of southern Kandahar province, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib. Troops detained 12 other militants, including group commanders fighting Afghan and foreign forces in the area, Saqib said. Five of the men detained were wounded during the clash.

#7: Two Danish soldiers were killed Thursday in a gunbattle with Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, the Scandinavian country's military said. The soldiers were part of a Danish reconnaissance unit that came under fire in Gereshk Valley in Helmand Province, the Army Operational Command said. The two were evacuated by helicopter to a Danish camp where they were pronounced dead.

0 comments: