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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 25, 2007

Explosions Rattle Baghdad, Kill 26

Prime Minister Al-Maliki Vows No Letup Against Terrorism

By Scott Conroy
  • Play CBS Video Video Crackdown On Iraq Violence

    Iraqi forces and U.S. troops have launched a major crackdown on violence in Iraq, while politicians in Washington debate over increasing troop deployment. Gwen Belton reports.

  • Video Panel Shoots Down Iraq Plan

    In a non-binding resolution, the Democrat-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee opposed President Bush's plan to increase U.S. military presence in Iraq. Alison Harmelin reports.

  • Video Battle For Haifa St. Continues

    U.S. and Iraqi forces continued their battle for control of Baghdad's Haifa Street. Lara Logan joined a group of American soldiers on the lookout for roadside bombs.

    • Smoke rises over the Karrada neighborhood in central Baghdad on Jan 25, 2007, after a car bomb blast.

      Smoke rises over the Karrada neighborhood in central Baghdad on Jan 25, 2007, after a car bomb blast.  (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

    • An Iraqi soldier holds defused grenades found at Shurja, a predominantly Shiite market, in central Baghdad on Jan. 25, 2007, after a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in a predominantly Shiite market.

      An Iraqi soldier holds defused grenades found at Shurja, a predominantly Shiite market, in central Baghdad on Jan. 25, 2007, after a bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded in a predominantly Shiite market.  (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

    • A U.S. military Apache helicopter flies over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24, 2007.

      A U.S. military Apache helicopter flies over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24, 2007.  (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

    • Smoke rises over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24 2007.

      Smoke rises over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24 2007.  (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)

    • U.S. Blackwater private security helicopters participate in a joint U.S. military operation in Baghdad, Jan. 23, 2007.

      U.S. Blackwater private security helicopters participate in a joint U.S. military operation in Baghdad, Jan. 23, 2007.  (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

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  • Interactive New Plan For Iraq

    Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.

  • Interactive American Heroes

    Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.

  • Interactive Iraq: A Turning Point?

    New Congress, change at the Pentagon, study group report; what does the future hold?

(CBS/AP)  Iraq's prime minister insisted Thursday there will be "no safe place in Iraq for terrorists," hours before a suicide car bombing killed at least 26 people in the Shiite neighborhood of Karradah and two rockets slammed into the heavy fortified Green Zone not far from the U.S. Embassy.

Angry Karradah residents took to the streets chanting "We want the Sunnis out!" after the blast, the second suicide bombing in three days in the neighborhood. The explosion destroyed three minivans, 11 cars and dozens of shops, as well as the local post office, according to a resident.

Seven charred bodies were visible in one of the vans, including that of a woman who was half out a window in an apparent attempt to escape the inferno.

A second huge explosion later rattled the capital, but police said it was a controlled blast to destroy a second car explosive that had been disabled before its suicide bomber could detonate it.

As the rockets fell and bombs exploded across the Tigris River, the public address system inside the Green Zone compound could be heard warning in English that people should take cover because "this is not a drill."

Five people were wounded in the rocket attack, none seriously. Mortar and rocket attacks hit the zone frequently but reported casualties are rare.

The attacks came on a day that police reported 61 killed in sectarian violence nationwide, including the bodies of 22 torture victims dumped in Baghdad, and a parliamentary debate was suspended briefly after arguments broke out between Sunnis and Shiites over security.

In the Sunni neighborhood of Doura, the desperation of local residents almost turned a U.S. humanitarian mission into a riot, reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.

Crowds of women and children frantically swarmed around the U.S. supply truck, pushing each other in the frenzy. Even fiercely proud Iraqi men begged for some of the blankets and kerosene heaters.

It was all part of the U.S. effort to turn the violent Sunni area into a model for the rest of the neighborhood to follow.

By helping to meet people's most basic needs, like supplying gas heaters, the hope is the people will help U.S. soldiers keep the area secure, Lieutenant John Davis told Logan.

Parliament held yet another raucous session, this time witnessing a heated exchange between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni legislator and cleric Abdul-Nasser al-Janabi, who accused the Shiite-dominated government of carrying out purges against Sunnis, the minority sect in Iraq.

The prime minister was seeking support for his and President Bush's plan to crush sectarian violence in Baghdad.

The prime minister vowed to go after those behind Baghdad's rampant violence no matter where they try to hide and regardless of sectarian beliefs, promising at the same time to ensure the human rights of innocent Iraqis.

In other developments:

  • A 101st Airborne Division soldier was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to murdering an Iraqi detainee and taking part in the killings of two others, saying he went along with a plan to make it look like they were escaping.

  • Senate Democrats are raising questions about the administration's desire for more than $1 billion to help with the rebuilding of Iraq. Increasing the reconstruction effort is a key part of the president's new strategy in Iraq, which also involves boosting the number of U.S. troops. But Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden made clear there are concerns. He noted the State Department has already spent nearly $15 billion on reconstruction, and said "the results aren't pretty."

  • An insurgent group that has claimed responsibility for the downing this week of a U.S. helicopter in Baghdad that killed five Americans posted a video on an Islamic Web site showing the wreckage and two bodies. The 1-minute, 14-second video carried the logo of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a known Sunni militant group. It showed wreckage of a helicopter with bricks scattered around it. The naked bodies of two men, one with gray hair and the other with dark hair, were seen near the wreckage.

  • The deputy commanding general of the Multi-National Corps in Iraq says the United States will go solo on a troop surge there. Canadian Major General Peter Devlin says none of the other 25 coalition partners is planning to increase troops. He says it's "a hard decision to make," but they have to base their efforts on national interests.

    Continued



    © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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    More From Iraq After Saddam

    Add a Comment See all 95 Comments
    by skyk-2009 January 26, 2007 11:36 AM EST
    My hats off to the American People! Although they have not been able to get Sir Lies-A-Lot to remove our kids from this Civil War, they have FORCED him to remove the terribly incompetent Secretary of Defense and have put the Republican Party in a Box. It's unfortunate that more of our Greatest Resource has to die but if not for the People of this nation we'd still be hearing the mindless followers of Sir Lies-A-Lot chanting "Stay the Course".
    Reply to this comment
    by skyk-2009 January 26, 2007 11:22 AM EST
    Hillaryin08, do you have something informative to add to the discussion of Iraq and the mess therein? You seem to have the mind of a child and simply strike out at anyone who does not want to let you have your way. In case you missed it, the Baker/Hamiliton Commission TOLD us we are getting our butts kicked in Iraq and KERRY is NOT leading that mess. Either try to keep on subject or go play with your swastika someplace else. Combat Vet, RVN, 1968
    Reply to this comment
    by annd2302 January 26, 2007 5:42 AM EST
    SearingTruth

    What are you, some kind if evangelist? State something original, if I want "QUOTES" I%u2019ll go elsewhere.
    Reply to this comment
    by besscannon-2009 January 26, 2007 5:41 AM EST
    All this dramatic and literary speak says nothing but that someone is trying to impress someone. Doesn't really voice much in real opinions or solutions. If Bush hadn't made so many horrible mistakes swaggering like Bush the Conqueror, we wouldn't be struggling for a solution to a face-saving way out now. A lot of young men, fathers, sons, brothers, have been sacrificed on the alter of Bush's ego. *It is so useless and sad. He won't talk to Iran, etc. because he doesn't know diplomatic manners to be used to keep friends close and enemies closer. All he can say are childish phrases such as, "We appreciate you coming", "we are glad you came",
    "We respect what you are doing", etc. He is like a broken record stuck in one groove. I believe he is afraid he will be shown up as lacking.
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 5:12 AM EST
    If Bush would have accepted Saddam's pre-invasion challenge to a duel, just think how much better our current situation might be?

    It was a win-win proposition!
    Reply to this comment
    by fascistusa January 26, 2007 4:29 AM EST
    George Orwell was NOT talking about the future in 1984 Orwell.

    HE ALREADY LIVED THROUGH A FASCIST NATION.

    LORD BUSH AND KING CHENEY DID 9/11.

    THE RICH OWN THE "NEWS". THE PROPOGANDA. THEY KNEW THEY COULD PULL IT OFF.

    Just go on believing. Trust your Government. Big Brother Loves You. Jesus Saves.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth January 26, 2007 3:28 AM EST
    "We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield."
    George Orwell

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."
    Edmund Burke

    "A tyrant's only ally is fear."
    SearingTruth

    "Which morality shall we claim?
    That of well meaning oppressor and murderer in substitute of heartless oppression and murder?"
    SearingTruth

    "Judge not a word conflicted by deed."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by firststate January 26, 2007 3:04 AM EST
    I've seen stories about some of the public works projects we've had going on there. The problem is that they were no more effectively run than the war. Any rational person can see that the no-bid and yes-pay system has been an unmitigated disaster except for stockholders in the contractors.

    Maliki says the right things about going after Sunni and Shia trouble makers. Except for a few Shia detainees, many of whom have been allowed to walk out of the facilities where they were in custody, most of the action has been against the Sunnis. Does anyone believe that he is honestly going after Sadr and his followers, when without Sadr, the Parliament can't even muster a quorum.

    Sunni and Shia have been killing each other forever. The Sunnis were on top with Saddam even though they were a minority. Now the majority Shia are in power and aren't pleased. They're not likely to start holding hands and singing around the campfire.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth January 26, 2007 2:56 AM EST
    "The blood. All of that blood. Dried and brittle and bound to her skin. To act as if I did not see, as if I did not care. To search, to salvage, to endure, to live. To return. Broken."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 2:54 AM EST
    Re: ""We are full of hope. We have no other choice but to use force and any place where we receive fire will not be safe even if it is a school, a mosque, a political party office or home,"

    Sounds like the al-Maliki puppet is preparing a bloodbath for the people of Iraq.

    Re: "Angry and insulting exchanges have become normal in Iraq's 275-member parliament, but the involvement of the nation's leader heightened the tension."

    The Iraqi puppet leaders are self-destructing. This is encouraging.
    Reply to this comment
    by billion2005 January 26, 2007 2:42 AM EST
    Cheney is made of hogwash for thinking nothing wrong with this war.
    Reply to this comment
    by hillaryin08 January 26, 2007 2:41 AM EST
    Poor John Kerry, swift boated by the Democrat Party just like Algore, Liberman, Edwards and Murtha. We're really suprised here......
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 2:27 AM EST
    badaxmofo,

    Re: "I've seen those films"

    Really? Which elements of these films do you find to be most/least convincing?

    Re: "our voices don't matter"

    Can't agree with you there.
    Reply to this comment
    by searingtruth January 26, 2007 2:21 AM EST
    "And so death begat death, and suffering begat suffering, until all had been consumed, and all cause lost."
    SearingTruth

    "It was my flesh to defend my flesh. Not the fever of ambition, conquest, and greed."
    SearingTruth

    A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
    Reply to this comment
    by agnim January 26, 2007 2:02 AM EST
    ""no safe place in Iraq for terrorists," hours before a suicide car bombing killed at least 26 people in the Shiite neighborhood of Karradah and two rockets slammed into the heavy fortified Green Zone not far from the U.S. Embassy. "

    Those bombs and rockets were aimed at making the "terrorist" at those sites unsafe, just as the Iraqi Prime Minister predicted? LOL

    I wonder whose side that Prime Minister is on and who are the "terrorists"? LOL
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 1:43 AM EST
    badaxmofo,

    Re: "Most think Bush is an idiot, how could an 'idiot' pull this off?"

    Bush's mental capacity is irrelevant. Bush does what he is told.

    "Thanks for the links - they're old news however"

    OK, but if you should decide to watch these films, please be sure to return here with your critique.
    Reply to this comment
    by johnshaft4 January 26, 2007 1:40 AM EST
    msnbc.com reports today that von Rumsfeld is still working at the Pentagon with seven (7) aides. The song remains the same...
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 1:39 AM EST
    badaxmofo,

    Re: 'No way the media will report any good news on this topic'

    That's not true I read that some school in Iraq got a fresh coat of paint, not that long ago. Plus, not as many U.S. solidiers dies for nothing today in Iraq, as we have seen in recent days.
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 1:36 AM EST
    badaxmofo,

    Re: "Hence 9/11 was an inside job."

    Seems like you are a little off-topic there, but since you brought it up, here are some URLS to some interesting films relating to the events of 9/11/1:

    Improbable Collapse

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUMKP4WaMgM

    & 9/11 Press For Truth

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5589099104255077250&q=google+paul 9%2F11&hl=en
    Reply to this comment
    by feelfree1 January 26, 2007 1:32 AM EST
    Re: "The deputy commanding general of the Multi-National Corps in Iraq says the United States will go solo on a troop surge there."

    Translation: U.S. funded death-squads on the way!
    Reply to this comment
    See all 95 Comments

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