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, October 27, 2008

War News for Monday, October 27, 2008

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of two American soldiers in a suicide bombing attack in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan province, Afghanistan on Monday, October 27th. Four Afghan security officers and one other person were wounded in the blast. CNN is reporting that three other soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Canwest is reporting the death of another coalition soldier from a bomb blast in a western province of Afghanistan presumably on Monday, October 27. No other details were released.


Oct. 23 airpower summary:

Oct. 24 airpower summary:

Syria says U. S. attack kills eight on farm:

Syrian villager says 2 men grabbed in US raid:

BBC: Syria condemns 'US village raid':

U.S. sets deadline for Iraq:

Iran to US: Release kidnapped diplomats:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded in southeastern Baghdad on Monday near two minibuses carrying passengers, killing three civilians and wounding five others, an Interior Ministry source said. "A roadside bomb explosion occurred in the morning near two minibuses carrying passengers while traveling in the al-Ameen neighborhood, killing three civilians and injuring five others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded four people on Monday in the Nahda district of central Baghdad, police said.

#3: Sunday Around 7 pm a roadside bomb targeted a Shiite mosque in Zafaraniyah neighborhood (southeast Baghdad). Three people were injured with the mosque’s wall damaged.

#4: Sunday Around 7:30 pm a roadside bomb targeted a traffic police patrol in Kasra in Adhemiyah neighborhood (north Baghdad). Six people were injured including three traffic policemen.

#5: Sunday Around 8 pm a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in Meda’in near the petrol station of the town (south of Baghdad). Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded.

#6: Sunday Police found one dead body in the New Baghdad neighborhood in Baghdad today.

#7: Around noon a roadside bomb detonated near the Kindi hospital intersection (northeast Baghdad). Two people were wounded.

#8: An adhesive bomb detonated under a civilian car at Khilani intersection (downtown Baghdad). Two people were killed and seven others were wounded.

#9: Four militants were killed and seven others detained during operations targeting al Qaeda in Iraq on Sunday and Monday, the U.S. military said.

#10: At about 1:20 a.m., Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers were attacked with small-arms fire at a joint security station. The Soldiers were able to identify those responsible for the attack and returned fire. A total of five attackers were killed with no U.S. casualties. Coalition forces killed five criminals after a small arms fire attack in Baghdad’s New Baghdad security district,Oct. 27.

#11: Police found one dead body in Mashtal neighborhood in east Baghdad today.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was killed on Monday by a bomb that had been planted on his personal car in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Dour:
#1: A roadside bomb killed a government employee and wounded six others when it struck a minibus in Dour, a small town near Tikrit, 150 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, police Captain Anwar Mohammed said.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman and a civilian were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in western Mosul city on Monday, a police source in Ninewa province said. “A car rigged with explosives went off today near a checkpoint in the area of al-Bursa, western Mosul, leaving one policeman and one civilian man wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#2: Gunmen killed a civilian near the jewelry shops in downtown Mosul.

#3: A dead body was found bearing gunshot wounds in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#4: “Two Iraqi army soldiers were wounded when two mortar shells landed near their vehicle patrol followed by an armed attack by unknown gunmen in al-Sedeq neighborhood in northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#5: “An explosive charge went off near the house of a police officer in al-Rashidiya region in northern Mosul, causing material damage to his car without leaving casualties,” the same source said.


Dohuk Prv:
#1: Turkish artillery bombed some villages in the northeast of Dohuk in Kurdistan region before noon, Peshmerga sources, the security forces in the area, said. Also they said that the Turkish had bombed the same area last night, too. No casualties or damages were reported.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) was defused in central Falluja city on Monday without incident, police said. “An IED emplaced by unidentified persons near al-Hadra al-Muhammadiya Mosque, central Falluja, was detonated without incident today,” a security source from Falluja police told Aswat al-Iraq.



Afghanistan:
#1: Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter after exchanging fire with its crew in central Afghanistan on Monday. The helicopter was forced down in Wardak, one province west of Kabul, after insurgents hit it with gunfire Monday, said Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthew, a U.S. military spokesman. The crew survived and have been extracted from the area, he said. "The helicopter crew exchanged fire with the enemy before the damage brought the helicopter down," Matthews said. Coalition troops secured the area and "are in the process of recovering" the helicopter, he said. At least four militants were killed in the exchange, said Fazel Karim Muslim, the chief of Sayed Abad district.

A U.S. helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan on Monday, but none of the 10 soldiers on board were killed, according to a U.S. military spokesman. The Taliban claimed that its fighters used a rocket-propelled grenade launcher to shoot down a U.S. Chinook helicopter in the Wardak province, about 30 miles (50km) west of Kabul. All 10 soldiers on board were picked up and taken to safety, he said. He could not say if any were injured.

#2: An American drone aircraft hit a militant compound in South Waziristan Sunday night, killing 20 people, including two important local Taliban commanders known for their attacks against American soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior government official and a local resident said. One of the dead commanders, Eida Khan, was wanted by the Americans for his cross-border attacks from bases in Waziristan, the government official said. Another, Wahweed Ullah, worked with Arabs who were part of Al Qaeda, the local resident said.

#3: German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, seriously wounding two of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday. A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday near the northern city of Kunduz. The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said. When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said. Several persons were wounded, among them two men who suffered serious injuries that required treatment in a a nearby German field hospital, he added.


Casualty Reports:

Sgt. Joey Bozik was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The 26-year-old 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper lost both legs and his right arm when an anti-tank mine exploded under his Humvee.

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