UPDATE ON GI WHO LOST BOTH LEGS IN IRAQ: SECURITY INCIDENTS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

When Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad Monday, he went from his plane to the Green Zone in a helicopter because the streets of Baghdad are too dangerous to drive down. Anyone driving through Baghdad has to zigzag down the streets and hope that someone has planted an IED or takes a shot at them from a window or door.

And these security incidents in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities is why Iraq remains a very dangerous place despite all the bravado about how well "the surge" is working.

We also have this casualty report on a U.S. soldier wounded in Iraq:

Casualty Reports: Army Sergeant James Hackemer, 26, of Gowanda lost his legs when the armored vehicle he was driving was blown up by an I-E-D in Baghdad Friday. Hackemer and 4 others were all in the vehicle when the blast occurred. All of them are listed in critical condition tonight. Hackemer is currently being treated at a hospital in Germany. He is said to be in a drug induced coma, and is expected to be transported back to the U.S. tomorrow or Wednesday.

Security incidents:Baghdad:#1: Two civilians were killed and four others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in northeastern Baghdad on Tuesday morning, police said. An IED planted by unidentified gunmen went off near an outdoor souk (market) in al-Binouk neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding four others," the source, who preferred not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

#2: An IED unidentified gunmen stuck to a traffic facility on the main road in al-Shaab area, northeastern Baghdad, went off, killing two traffic policemen," Maj. General Qassem Atta, the spokesman for the command and the security plan Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (law imposing), told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

#3: Around 3 p.m. a parked car bomb exploded near a checkpoint near Um Al Tubool mosque (Ibin Taimia mosque) at the entrance of the airport road, injuring three Iraqi army soldiers and injuring 4 civilians.

#4: U.S. forces killed seven suspected militants and detained eight others in operations targeting al Qaeda members in central and northern Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said.#5: Police found five dead bodies throughout Baghdad, one in Zafaraniyah, one in Sinak, one in Ur, two in Dora.

Diyala Prv:#1: Three policeman were killed and three others wounded in a roadside bomb attack targeting their patrol in Abu Sayda village in northern Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Karbala:#1: Update An Iraqi health official says the death toll in Monday's bombing in Karbala has risen to 52. About 75 people were injured in the blast.

Iskandariya:#1: A member of a neighbourhood security unit was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a checkpoint in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Diwaniyah:#1: Twelve rockets targeted Al Diwaniyah city from three different directions and caused no casualties, Iraqi police said.Shatt al-Arab:

#1: Two Iraqi fishermen drowned and another wounded when their boat came under an Iranian patrol fire in the waters of Shatt al-Arab river channel, south of Basra, on Tuesday, police said."An Iranian patrol opened fire at an Iraqi fishing boat in al-Fao area, (110 km) south of Basra, causing two fishermen to drown and a third to sustain injuries," the source, who did not want his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Basra:#1: Gunmen using machineguns attacked sheikh Abdul Atheem Al Edani, a deputy of Sistani to Basra, in Al Taiaran square in central Basra, injuring him and killing his driver.

Isahaqi:#1: An officer in the rank of lieutenant was killed on Tuesday in clashes with an armed group in al-Anya village, (4 km) west of al-Isahaqi in a raid on gunmen's hideouts," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq

Samarra:#1: Meanwhile, the same source said "unidentified gunmen kidnapped on Monday evening a policeman in a fake checkpoint they set up in Watban street, near Samarra. "The gunmen cut off the road for more than one hour, during which they stopped some civilian vehicles and kidnapped a policeman in civvies and led him to the area of al-Tharthar, southwestern Samarra," the source said.

Baiji:#1: Two members of a neighbourhood security unit were killed in a drive-by shooting at a checkpoint in Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Kirkuk:#1: Unknown gunmen kidnapped a civilian in central Kirkuk on Tuesday, a police source said.

Mosul:#1: Two civilians were killed and 10 others wounded when a car bomb ripped through a crowded commercial street in central Mosul on Tuesday, police said. A car bomb went exploded by means or remote control on the shoppers-busy Khaled Ibn al-Walid street in central Mosul, killing two civilians and wounding 10 others," a police source in Ninewa, who refused to reveal his name, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq .

Three people were killed and 45 others wounded by a bomb in a parked car in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said

Afghanistan:#1: Pakistan's state news agency says a roadside bomb has struck an oil tanker carrying fuel for U.S.-led coalition forces in neighboring Afghanistan. No one was hurt. The Associated Press of Pakistan says the truck "burst into flames" after the explosion Tuesday near Peshawar, a city near the Afghan border. The tanker carrying 11,624 gallons of fuel was destroyed.

#2: The health condition of the Czech soldier who was seriously wounded in a suicide attack in the south of Afghanistan on Monday remains unchanged and he continues being kept in induced sleep, Czech deputy chief of staff Josef Proks said.One of them has serious injuries. He has been transported to the U.S. hospital in Kandahar and is kept in induced sleep.

#3: Some of the 3,200 North Carolina-based Marines slated for a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan's volatile south have begun arriving at the region's largest base following a call from Canada for more troops there. About 2,200 troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will be based in Kandahar, the Taliban's former power base.

#4: Afghan security forces killed two Taliban militants who were involved in a recent attack on a mobile phone tower in western Afghanistan, police said Tuesday. Five other rebels were captured following the clash in Obe district of Herat province late Monday, regional police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told AFP. One of the captured men was wounded, he added.