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, April 23, 2009

War News for Thursday, April 23, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division–Baghdad Soldier soldier from from combat related injuries in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday, April 22nd.


Abu Ghraib head finds vindication in newly released memos: (This makes me sick! Scapegoat my ass, this lady not only know what she was doing but willfully obeyed. She should be not only sent to the Hague for war crimes but prosecuted here for following an illegal order which is defined in the uniform code of military justice--whisker.)

April 21 airpower summary:

US troops in Iraq on their way to Afghanistan:

Family of Hungarian shot in Iraq to sue for compensation: The family of a Hungarian man killed by a US soldier in Iraq in late March will file a law suit demanding compensation of 1.5 million dollars, the man's sister told MTI on Thursday.

Iraq and Syria in pipeline repair deal:

G.I.’s to Fill Civilian Gap to Rebuild Afghanistan:

Iraqi insurgent leader captured-state television:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials say at least 22 people have been killed in a suicide bombing that struck civilians collecting humanitarian aid in Baghdad. Police and hospital officials say Thursday's attack occurred near Tahariyat Square in the central neighborhood of Karradah. An official at the Interior Ministry says 22 people have been killed and 52 wounded.

The blast targeted a police patrol in the Karrada district on Thursday and the dead included at least 13 policemen, the interior ministry said. The police were said to be helping to distribute relief supplies to displaced Iraqis at the time of the attack.

In the first attack a suicide bomber wearing a vest stuffed with explosives blew himself up in a group of police distributing relief supplies in Baghdad, killing at least 28 people and wounding 50.

#2: Wednesday Around 10 p.m. a gunman threw a grenade on an Iraqi national police check point at the high way which leads to the Ministry of Finance building in downtown Baghdad on Wednesday. One policeman was killed and three others were wounded including two civilians.


Diyala Prv:
Khanaqin:
#1: One civilian was killed and two others were wounded in an armed attack near Khanaqin district, a Diala security source said on Thursday. “On Wednesday evening, unknown gunmen driving a car opened fire on a civilian vehicle on al-Imam Wis road (35km south of Khanaqin), killing one civilian and wounding two others before fleeing to an unknown destination,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Baquba:
#1: At least seven people were killed and 25 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a group of Iranian pilgrims on Thursday near the northeastern city of Baquba, Iraqi police said.

A second suicide bomber killed at least 25 people later on Thursday , most of them thought to be Iranian pilgrims, in a restaurant northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.


Duluiya:
#1: At least six people were killed and 15 others were wounded Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt inside a Sunni mosque northern Baghdad, a police source said. The source told the German news agency dpa that the blast occurred right before the evening prayer in al-Kholafa mosque in al-Duluiya district, 80 kilometres north of Baghdad. The mosque was severely damaged. 'It seems that the suicide bomber was targeting the mosque's imam, Nadhim al-Jubouri, who was not inside the mosque at the time,' said the source, who said al-Jabouri was likely targeted 'because he sympathizes with the Awakening Council.'

A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded 15 inside a mosque in central Iraq, and on Monday, a suicide bomber in a police uniform killed four policemen in northeastern Diyala province. Eight US soldiers were wounded.


Mosul:
#1: One Iraqi serviceman on Wednesday was injured in an explosive charge blast that ripped through western Mosul city, according to an army source. “An improvised explosive device (IED) targeted an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in Souk al-Maash area, western Mosul, wounding a patrolman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two civilians were wounded on Thursday in an improvised explosive device explosion in eastern Mosul, a security source said.“An explosive charge went off on Thursday (April 23) targeting an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in al-Zahraa neighborhood in eastern Mosul, injuring two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A booby-trapped car went off on Thursday targeting the U.S. forces in eastern Mosul, without causing any casualties, a police source said. “A car crammed with explosives went off on Thursday (April 23) targeting U.S. forces in al-Nabi Younnes region in eastern Mosul, without leaving casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Dozens of militants armed with guns and gasoline bombs attacked a truck terminal in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday and burned five tanker trucks carrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, police said. Militants attacked the truck depot near the city of Peshawar before dawn, hurling gasoline bombs which set fire to the five tankers, said Abdul Khan, a local police official. Security guards fled and the assailants made their escape before police arrived, Khan said. Several truckers drove their vehicles out of the terminal to save them from the flames, which were later doused by firefighters, he said.

#2: Pakistani paramilitary troops rushed to protect government buildings and bridges from encroaching Taliban militants just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the capital quickly came under fire Thursday by gunmen who killed a police officer, authorities said. The assault in Buner district is likely to heighten concern about the viability of a government-backed peace deal that imposes Islamic law in a large segment of the country's northwest in exchange for peace with Taliban militants in the neighboring Swat Valley. Six Frontier Constabulary platoons arrived in Buner on Wednesday, said Syed Mohammed Javed, a government official who oversees the area covered by the peace deal. He would not say if the deployment was in direct response to the Taliban presence, but said tribal elders were meeting to assess the overall situation.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on a security convoy that included some of the Frontier Constabulary. The gunfire killed an escorting police officer and wounded another in the Totalai area, said Hukam Khan, an area police official.

#3: Iran's state television says Afghan forces have killed an Iranian guard along the countries' restive border.Thursday's report quotes an unidentified Iranian official as saying the Afghan forces were not aware that the Iranian guard was in the area at the time of the shooting, which occurred during a night patrol. The report did not say when the shooting took place.

Two Iranian border police were killed and two others wounded in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan, Iran's Police News Center reported on Wednesday. "The policemen who had taken food items from Sarbaz city in Sistan-Balouchestan to the outpost of Azadeghan (bordering Pakistan) were targeted by armed rebels on their way back," the report said. "The driver and another one in a Peugeot car ruthlessly targeted the police car and quickly escaped," the Police News Center said. Two policemen were killed and two others, who were soldiers, were wounded and taken to the hospital, according to the report.

#4: US-led coalition forces killed two suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan. Using information provided by intelligence sources, a combined force of Afghan and coalition troops conducted an operation in the Tarin Kot district of Uruzgan province Wednesday and killed two suspected militants, the US military said in a statement.

#5: Two policemen were killed as militants ambush police mobile van in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, private DAWN NEWS TV channel reported. The police mobile van was piloting Frontier Constabulary (FC) troops when it came under the attack in Swabi village in North West Frontier Province, said the report. The FC troops were on their way to Buner district where Taliban militants have established their presence.

#6: Clash between Afghan police and Taliban militants in western Afghan province of Farah claimed the lives of one police and seven Taliban militants on Wednesday, provincial police chief said on Thursday. "Militants on Wednesday stormed a police convey in Khaki Safid district killing one police and injuring another," Abdul Qhafar Watanyar told Xinhua. He added that seven Taliban were also killed as police returned fire and over a dozen rebels sustained injuries. Watanyar said that one teenager girl was killed in the clash.

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