New Baghdad Bomb; Fate Of Abducted Unclear

Yet another bomb hit Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wounding another 32, hours after doubts surfaced about the truth of an earlier report that many of Tuesday's mass kidnapping victims were later released.

The bomb, according to Police Lt. Bilal Ali, was in a car parked near a gas station in the Bab Shargi section of the Iraqi capital.

It happened at about 9:45 a.m.

Also Wednesday, U.S. officials said that a soldier and three more Marines have died – as a result of combat wounds suffered in the Iraqi province of Anbar – which has been a stronghold for insurgents.

Tuesday, as shock spread through Iraq over a mass kidnapping of scientists by abductors said to have been wearing government uniforms, a series of car bombs exploded around Iraq, killing and wounding scores of people.

Suspected Shiite militiamen dressed as Interior Ministry commandos stormed a Higher Education Ministry office Tuesday and kidnapped dozens of people after clearing the area under the guise of providing security for what they claimed would be a visit by the U.S. ambassador.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that about 80 men in Iraqi police uniforms surrounded an Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education building in broad daylight and then moved inside, according to witnesses.

There are varying estimates of the number of people kidnapped, but it appeared that at least 50 were seized — one of the largest mass abductions in Iraq.

Authorities said as many as 20 were later released, but said a broadcast report that most hostages were freed appeared to be false.

Witnesses and authorities said the gunmen raced through all four stories of the building, forced men and women into separate rooms, handcuffed the men and loaded them aboard about 20 pickup trucks.

But by the time help arrived, the kidnappers had vanished with their hostages, leaving signs of a struggle, but few clues. As police cordoned off the building, news of the raid spread to relatives — who know very well what happens to most abduction victims in Iraq, Palmer reports.

Shortly afterward, authorities arrested six senior police officers in connection with the abductions — the police chief and five top subordinates in the Karradah district, the central Baghdad region where the kidnappers struck, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf said.

In other developments:

Prime Minister Tony Blair told the advisory group reviewing strategy on Iraq on Tuesday that a push for peace across the Middle East and help for Baghdad to root out sectarianism in its security forces were key to stemming bloodshed, his official spokesman said.

A Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi civilian pleaded not guilty Tuesday in his first court appearance. Cpl. Trent Thomas belonged to a squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman who were accused of abducting the 52-year-old man, shooting him at a roadside hole and trying to cover up the killing. Thomas is charged with kidnap, murder, conspiracy, making a false official statement, larceny and housebreaking in the April 26 death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdania, west of Baghdad. Two Marines and the corpsman pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to testify about the killing in return for the dropping of other charges. The two Marines are to be sentenced later this week. A fourth member of the squad has made a similar deal and is due in court next week.

At least 82 people have been killed or found dead in murders, bombings and clashes across Iraq on Tuesday. A suicide car bomber struck near a mosque in Baghdad's Sadr City Shiite slum, killing at least seven people and wounding 23, police said. The blast was triggered near the Shiite al-Rasoul Mosque, according to police Lt. Col. Thamer al-Gharrawi. Explosions in Sadr City have killed scores of people in the past months part of sectarian violence between members of the country's Shiite majority and Sunnis.

The assault came on a day that saw at least 117 people die in the mounting disorder and violence gripping the country.

The abductions in broad daylight raised further questions about Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's commitment to wiping out the heavily armed Shiite militias of his prime political backers: the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, and the Sadrist Movement of radical, anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

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[trueprogress]

Kallum - Was WWII worth the effort ?
Is any war worth the effort ?
Are all wars bad, even if innocent people are saved ?
Is it OK that Iran gets nuclear weapons ?
IS our culture better than the Taliban ?

[trueprogress]

BARBARIANS AT OUR GATES

What barabarians we are dealing with !
When we took over in Germany, we did not have German's killing innocent Germans just to cause chaos. Nor in Japan. What kind of people do these things ? EVIL. Why surprised ?
The answer is, that our media has been so "even handed"
for so long with the Palest and Israeli conflicts, otherwise we would have known of the atrocities and targeting of innocent people, women and children that this bully culture enjoys. Do you know what "honor killings" are. Had our (stupid) college professors not taught such multicultural blater, and "we can't judge, generalize" other cultures, perhaps we would have had clear understanding of the Arabs/Muslims intolerance. Even now the academics are silent. As are "good Muslims" everywhere when people's heads are caught off.
We are in WWIII. We had better start fighting back with everything we have like we mean it. They are.

[gramto7]

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace" Thomas Paine

I agree with WVopfor81 in this quote he posted. Unfortunately, I believe that Duhbya has started something that will be continuing until my grandchildren are grown. I don't think, or at least I sincerely hope, that our troops are not still in Iraq until then. However, the infighting that has come about because Saddam is no longer in power will go on for decades. The people of Iraq and, indeed, the entire region will remember GW Bush as the terrorist he is.

[wvopfor81]

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace" Thomas Paine

duh finish the Job

[themooniac]

Oh, and one more thing. My guess would be that the police uniforms used in this mass kidnapping were probably paid for with american tax dollars.

[themooniac]

If the guy in the above photo would shave off the ends of his moustache he'd look exactly like Adolf Hitler - check it out! Anyway, whether you want the troops to leave now or later one things cartain - these folks will be killing each other long after the U.S. makes it's exit. The Shi'ites and the Sunni's deserve each other. They can kill more Iraqi's than the coalition anyday. Sad isn't it??

[gayathiest]

How does any of this banter amongst all of you relate to the story?
What has been reported is simply another confirmation that Iraq is falling deeper and deeper into anarchy. Civil war will follow.

This is a region of the world where murderous violence has been the norm for thousands of years. The only "peace" that has ever been held has been due to an iron fisted dictator. Saddam was a pretty good one as they go.

Reagan thought so when he gave Saddam money, weapons, secret forces training and chemical weapons technology to fight Iran. Saddam didn't change, we did.

[radiob-2009]

Unfortunately throughout the world there are extremist be it religon,political,monetary control or just complete power over nations and individuals.This seems to be the case in Iraq where theological differnecense is splitting the country in part.The goverment particularily Al malki is reluctant at best to address the needs of his fellow countymen.He has had ample time to disarm the militias and yet has done nothing.I have been saying for months that the goverment,military and police have been cooperating with the insurgents,miliitas and terrorist.It now appears undeniable.The question remains for the US as how to disband and imprison such individuals.It is a political tightrope, if we are seen to be regulating who is in power then we place our soldiers at greater risk.The Iraqi goverment needs a independent leader that can bring about the necessary change but has of yet to produce one.It is from within Iraq that can bring about change and stability until then we are stuck in this mindless quagmire of civil war.

[cbgb31]

"And yes there are some individuals here whom so happen to be white that feel a sense of entitlement, at the expense of others, of which Bush and others fit very neatly into this category." kailumugo

Would those "some individuals here" include any Democrats. Maybe we should check ALL members of congress to see if they are white and priveledged. And if there are many...then what?

[kailumego1]

Personally, I understand where BlondMadison is coming from, yes, there are individuals still left whom are racists, and you don't have to be of a different nationally to acknowledge this fact. Just become one who is willing to come out of denial.

And yes there are some individuals here whom so happen to be white that feel a sense of entitlement, at the expense of others, of which Bush and others fit very neatly into this category.

Does that mean other ethnic groups don%u2019t possess similar qualities, no, and that%u2019s the real problem.

Moreover, does this mean all whites possess this malignant, grandiose, maladaptive behavior, no, there are decent whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, Arabs, Iranians, etc.

The problem that exist %u201Cworldwide%u201D there are those whom have placed themselves centuries above others and feel only their opinions, beliefs, indoctrinations are correct.

WRONG!!!!

Likewise, there are those whom have elected themselves as pontificator and dictator over international affairs, thereby usurping power over leaders from other sovereign countries.

And have the opinionated audacity to reference individuals whom have dissimilar beliefs as amoral, primitive, and hedonistic.