Baghdad Bomb Kills 121, Wounds Hundreds
Suicide Truck Bomber Hits Iraqi Market With 1 Ton Of Explosives
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Iraq's Future Seen As Grim
The National Intelligence Estimate paints a picture of a nation spiraling toward implosion. David Martin reports one senior official puts the Iraqi government's chances at less than 50-50.
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Report Intensifies Iraq Debate
The National Intelligence Estimate released today paints a bleak picture of the situation in Iraq. The report comes amid deepening skepticism about the war on Capitol Hill. Susan Roberts has more.
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Casey On The Troop Surge
Up To The Minute Military Analyst Mitch Mitchell weighs in Monday's test vote opposing President Bush's plan for a US troop surge, as well as how Gen. Casey's opinion may factor into success in Iraq.
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A man wounded in a bomb blast is brought to the Imam Ali hospital in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007. (AP)
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Smoke billows from the site of an explosion in central Baghdad, where a suicide truck bomb slammed into a market in the district of Al-Sadriyah. More than a hundred people were killed and more than 200 were injured. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)
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A woman passes by a car destroyed in a car bomb blast in the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007. Several car bombs struck the oil-rich Kirkuk in a two-hour span on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding 40, police said. (AP Photo)
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The casket of Army Pfc. Ryan J. Hill, of Keizer, Ore., is carried into People's Church in Salem, Ore., for a funeral service Friday, Feb. 2, 2007. Hill died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad. (AP/Statesman Journal, A.J. Wright)
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In The Spotlight
Bush's New Iraq Strategy
A glimpse at some of the key elements in President Bush's new plan for Iraq.
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Photo Essay
Shiites Mark Ashoura
One of the holiest days of year for Shiites marked amid increased tensions with Sunni Muslims.
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American Heroes
Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
The attacker was driving a truck carrying foodstuffs including oil and flour when he detonated a ton of explosives, destroying stores and stalls in the busy outdoor Sadriyah market, police said.
The late-afternoon explosion was the latest in a series of attacks against mainly Shiite commercial targets in the capital. No group claimed responsibility, but it appeared to be part of a bid by Sunni insurgents to provoke retaliatory violence and kill as many people as possible ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security sweep.
Many of the injured from the market blast were driven to overwhelmed hospitals in pickup trucks and angry young men lifted bodies onto stretchers. The Kindi hospital, Baghdad's main emergency facility, quickly filled had to start refusing patients, asking ambulances to take them elsewhere.
"It was a strong blow. A car exploded. I fell on the ground," said one young man with a bandaged head, his face still streaked with blood.
Police and hospital officials said at least 121 people were killed and 226 wounded. The Health Ministry put the figure at 105 killed and 331 wounded.
Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabiri of the Interior Ministry told state television the truck was carrying a ton of explosives and destroyed 10 buildings.
"It was a suicide attacker who entered the market at a time when it was packed with people," al-Jabiri said. "There are still bodies under the rubble."
He said checkpoints at the market's entrance failed to stop the truck and called on the government to deport foreign Arabs, saying recent attacks have been carried out by suicide bombers.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called the bombing "horrific" and said it was "an example of what the forces of evil will do to intimidate the Iraqi people... To those who commit these heinous crimes we send this message: You will be relentlessly hunted until you are apprehended and brought to justice."
The bombing hit at a particularly inopportune time for the Bush administration's latest attempt to crush violence in the capital and just days before American and Iraqi forces were expected to start an all-out assault on Sunni and Shiite gunmen and bombers.
The blast was the deadliest attack in the capital since Nov. 23, when suspected al Qaeda in Iraq fighters attacked the capital's Sadr City Shiite slum with a series of car bombs and mortars that struck in quick succession, killing at least 215 people.
A suicide bomber also crashed his car into the Bab al-Sharqi market, near Sadriyah, on Jan. 22, killing 88 people.
South of Baghdad, a pair of suicide bombers detonated explosives Thursday among shoppers in a crowded outdoor market in the Shiite city of Hillah, killing at least 73 people and wounding 163, police said.
In other developments:
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See all 204 Comments1 hail of bullets = $ 100
1 Blackhawk bird = $ 6'000'000
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2 priceless american lives apparently no enemy dead.
Does anybody believe this is "win-able" ?
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - A ruling by Switzerland%u2019s highest court released Friday has opened up the possibility that people with serious mental illnesses could be helped by doctors to take their own lives.
I'll split the cost with anyone else for Bush/Cheney travel arranements to Switzerland. Are we on?
Posted by karlimhof
I'm in.
Clearly, somewhere there may be a classroom full of teen-aged girls going to school for the first time in their lives, but WHOOPDI-F'ING-DOO!
I suspect that there's absolutely no bit of "good news" that can outweigh the death of even ONE American, let alone two!
Why the f'ck did we go to Iraq?
Why?!
The good news point is valid. But there are two key points here. Firstly, good news in a time of war, does not sell newspapers or attract interest. Filing stories about children going to school or kilometeres of road being resurfaced, when helicopters are being shot out of the sky, probaly does not make "good news sense."
I think the other key point is that to report such stories when Iraq is (if you believe the National Intelligence Estimate) exhibiting characterstics of civil war, is to bury your head in the sand on a grand scale. The reality of Iraq is that the country is in a state of near or actual chaos. Do not believe me, look at the statistics (30,000 killed in sectarian violence in the last year). By any other definition that would amount to a civil war.
In part, the reason why the situation in Iraq is so "dire" (not my word, see General Petraeus' testimony before the Senate) is that the administration has sought to deny the reality and deceive the nation. Even senior administration officials (most notably the V.P) prefer to dismiss rather than discuss verifiable facts and data.
Personally, I am not concerned with reporting the "news", I am much more concerned with reporting the truth.
The reports from Iraq are continuing to get worse. I'm just about ready to shut off all the current events in the world and just follow American Idol and ONLY American Idol, (like so many blissfully ignorant Americans do).
I agree the fact that 'good news' doesn't sell papers, which reminds me of a popular saying in the news media: "If it bleeds, it leads."
I too am concerned with reporting the truth. I only hope that the truth will eventually lead to a better solution for Iraq in the next presidential administration. I've written off any hope with our current administration.
At this point, I just pray that the Bush Administration doesn't start another war with a much more powerful foe: IRAN!
Posted by karlimhof at 04:33 AM : Feb 03, 2007
Absolutely!
Posted by acauble1 at 05:46 AM
They're working on it.
kids went to school before too!!
Iraq in 1990 was one of the strongest and most powerful countries in the middle east.
Also do american people only "SPEAK"
If you don't like mr. bush why you not go outside and protest!!
Instead just " why we in iraq" , "bring back our tropops" etc..
I gues you only thing you can do is only Blah blah blah!!
you have no power !
Well, one-liners have been good enough till now from Bush, we don't have to repeat them all, do we?
The point I'm trying to make is Bush is still refusing to accept professional advice from our national intel agencies. Bush also sent back the section on Iran!
He DICTATES that this 'plan' may be successful in turning things around, but reserves the exit option by saying he cannot guarantee that it will do so. First off, it was supposed to show results within a 30 day period (that was before troops were sent), next came 40 to 60 days, and yesterday it was as much as 18 months.
Many more dead American soldiers, many more wounded (and Iraqis, too) and $245 BILLION dollars from US taxpayers is needed for this war through 2008. BUT, only $90 billion asked for 2009 in the budget plan. WHY?? This war will be declared victorious and will end in 2008, but one or more permanent bases will be established, and it will cost US taxpayers the $90 B to operate them.... annually forever......just a probability prediction!
The three most contentious news stories do not have a place for comments. Bombs in Baghdad are old news. Sad, but it will continue as long as there are news services.
It's not just a civil war the complex factors make it a civil war and even more, so it's worse than a civil war. The Iranians aren't a much of a problem.
Remember that this stuff is the portions that most support the administrations decisions. They are still picking through the intel and acting upon only the portions that could lead to their pre-determined actions. Cherry picking the intel to support their decisions instead of making their decisions based upon the information the intel provides is their continuing problem. These guys are determined to remain the bass ackwards boys. Their stupidity would be funny if it weren't killing so many people and financing their adventure with money borrowed against our children's and grandchildren's futures.
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IA11Ak03.html
"McConnell may well be able to carry a louder tune for his pal Cheney, which may come in the form of a sonata of manufactured intelligence to justify an attack on Iran, which is important as time is growing short for Cheney and company."
"It is Negroponte who oversaw the implementation of the "Salvador Option" in Iraq, as it was referred to in Newsweek in January 2005."
"Under the "Salvador Option", Negroponte had assistance from his colleague from his days in Central America during the 1980s, retired Colonel James Steele. Steel, whose title in Baghdad was counselor for Iraqi security forces, supervised the selection and training of members of the Badr Organization and Mehdi Army, the two largest Shi'ite militias in Iraq, to target the leadership and support networks of a primarily Sunni resistance."
"Planned or not, these death squads promptly spiraled out of control to become the leading cause of death in Iraq. Intentional or not, the scores of tortured, mutilated bodies that turn up on the streets of Baghdad each day are generated by the death squads whose impetus was Negroponte. And it is this US-backed sectarian violence that largely led to the hell-disaster that Iraq is today."
This war is a Republican debacle and will rightly remove more of these arrogant, incompetent fools from office in 2008.
Hey, ***.. I think its tiem for you get a brain transplant.. ;)
- war profiteers
- the Bush regime
- the extremist ideologues of Israel
What will be the Amero/Israeli "solution" to the choas in Iraq?
- Bomb Iran
nothing new about that.......
they have been doing that for over 1300 years.....
so it is time we put the blame where it belongs..... on the muslims themselves....
If Iran does not cater to US & GB oil companies, the US & GB will attack Iran for the primary purpose of gaining control of Iran's oil & gas fields.
These simple truths are self evidenct.
Anyone who believes the *** about "freedom" and "democracy," or defending a bunch of lunatics and gangsters in Israel, is a moron.
The US & GB use Israel as an excuse to threaten oil producing nations. And, to launder money in the form of taxpayer "gifts" to the gangsters in Israel's government.
Oil companies should be nationalized and Israel should be nuked.
It really is amazing how many otherwise intelligent, educated people are imbeciles when it comes to activities by their own governments.
Ok, that is not a problem. America was invaded and occupied to control its vast resources, by .... you and your ancestors.
What is a problem is incompetence and failure. The same failure in Southern California, where we are losing those vast resources to the plague of vermin from the dark lands below, is the same failure in Iraq, a failure of vision and execution of detail.
Morals matter, but only in the sense that they contribute to success. For example, there is the choice between tolerance and indignation, both can be presented as a moral position. But only one is successful in a given situation, sometimes its tolerance and sometimes indignation and xenophobia. The Chinese are using xenophobia very effectively right now, and using tolerance ver well, at least tolerance of anyone giving them lots of money. Xenophobia for those asking for money. These morals work for them, and they are getting rich.
America has hatred and divisiveness, a kind of intolerance, within itself where it is very damaging, and yet has infinite tolerance of a foreign invader like the Hispanics. That is failure.
So don't tell me its immoral to grab oil. The mistake wasn't that, it was the other immorality, which was to fail to unify the American people behind the effort.
These simple truths are self evidenct.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 12:40 PM : Feb 03, 2007
Ain't gonna happen, tucker. I'll tell you why. All we have at our disposal to invade Iran are Air Forces, Naval forces and nuclear weapons.
Iran's nuclear facilities are underground and virtually impervious to nuclear weapons, so it stands to reason that conventional air drop weapons will not have an impact.
We could attack their infrastructure with Air and naval forces, but that's about it.
Naval forces will not invade. Air Forces will not invade, and the forces who could invade are mired in Iraq.
Who's gonna invade, Superman?
You may believe it won't happen, but I would have never thought the US would be foolish enough to invade Iraq or Afghanistan.
The US will attack any nation that does not cater to US oil companies. It is only a matter of time until the US invades Venezuela if the CIA is unsuccessful in their attempts to overthrow or assassinate Chavez.
The US may use proxies, as we tend to do, but US oil companies will not be denied. Same for GB.
The hysterical mob (90% of people) do not rely on facts, they rely on jingoism. As evidenced by the events following 9/11/01.
The blame belongs to you and people like you who make excuses for Bush and co.
We had no business invading Iraq. They had nothing to do with 9/11 and did not pose a threat to us. Bush and co. were warned repeatedly that invasion and occupation would spark a sectarian civil war that would spiral out of control and that's exactly what has happened.
Civilized people barter and offer goods in exchange.
Savage barbarians use force to take what does not belong to them.
Invading other nations to steal their resources is not only immoral, it is criminal under all known laws by which the US & GB claim to operate.
Oil is not necessary for survival, it is a luxury and is primarily used for comfort, convenience, or pleasure.
And, those same "dark people" to which you refer are the same people who have the more legitimate claim to American resources (North, Central & South).
It appears "white people" (Anglo-Saxons) like to talk about "morality" and "laws," but only if they aren't required to obey them.
ISLAM PRACTICES SLAVERY OF NON MUSLIMS
ISLAM PRACTICES APARTHIED OF NON MUSLIMS
ISLAM PRACTICES RAPE OF NON MUSLIMS
ISLAM PRACTICES GENOCIDE OF NON MUSLIMS
ALL ARE VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND ARE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
It's obvious you have an obsessive-compulsive disorder that compels you to make a public fool of yourself.
It also appears you are paranoid & delusional. That can be fatal to not only you (no great loss), but to those around you. Many of the people we read about in the paper are paranoid-delusional.
They tend to murder their families, friends and/or co-workers in all kinds of gruesome ways.
Seek help before it is too late.
trying to justify islam raping, enslaving, killing and aparthied laws against non muslims are we haji?????
That's funny. You all don't care when we break international law by invading countries on false pretenses. Or when we break international law by, as an occupier, not providing adequate security for the country. Now, suddenly, international law is all great and everything?
I guess not much different with you righties and the UN. You righties would disband the UN in an instant. But when invading Iraq, all you talked about was how Iraq was ignoring UN resolutions. Like suddenly the UN was the best thing ever.
You can't have it both ways. You can't have the UN and international law apply to everyone else but not us.
Claiming the US & GB had UN approval is an outright lie first told by George Bush and repeated by his idiot supporters.
*Kofi Annan told the BBC that the UN did not approve the invasion & it was illegal under international law.
Bozo Bush's supporters are either ignorant or liars, usually both.
===================
*Thursday, 16 September, 2004, 09:21 GMT 10:21 UK
"The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm
We are at "war" BECAUSE of the "oil & gas thing."
The only way we are going to "get over it" is by indicting those resposnible for the unlawful invasion & occupation of Iraq. After which, they can be sued to recover the costs on behalf of the taxpayers.
US taxpayers are on the hook for about one trillion dollars for that fiasco while ExxonMobil & British Petroleum (et al) executives are reaping literal fortunes.
It is time to tax them 100% on their unearned & undeserved gains so we can move forward and "get over it."
I cannot imagine how any American taxpayer can sit still while war profiteers are looting the US Treasury AND raping consumers at the pump (and everywhere else that uses oil).
Until George Bush and his fellow war profiteering thugs are brought to trial, no one should be resting or "getting over it."
PRESIDENTIAL IQ'S
The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to
within five percentage points. In order by presidential term:
Franklin Delano Roosevelt [D] 142,
Harry S Truman [D] 132,
Dwight David Eisenhower [R] 122
&n bsp; John Fitzgerald Kennedy [D] 174,
Lyndon Baines Johnson [D] 126,
Richard Milhous Nixon [R] 155,
Gerald R. Ford [R] 121,
James Earle Carter [D] 175,
Ronald Wilson Reagan [R] 105
George Herbert Walker Bush [R] 98,
William Jefferson Clinton [D] 182,
George Walker Bush [R] 91
In order of IQ rating:
182 . William Jefferson Clinton [D]
175 . . James Earle Carter [D]
174 . . John Fitzgerald Kennedy [D]
155 . . Richard Milhous Nixon [R]
147 . . Franklin Delano Roosevelt [D]
132 . . Harry S Truman [D]
126 . . Lyndon Baines Johnson [D]
122 . . Dwight David Eisenhower [R]
121 . . Gerald R. Ford [R]
105 . . Ronald Wilson Reagan [R]
098 . . George Herbert Walker Bush [R]
091 . . George Walker Bush [R]
.The smartest president didn't know enough to keep his pants zipped and the
dumbest one thinks he can run a war.
kofi annan has proved himself to be not believable on anything............lol
same for his son.......
and as for bbc............
BBC OUTED AS PROPOGANDA RAG!!!
BBC admits: We are biased on religion and politics
Internal corporation memo on %u2018impartiality%u2019 summit leaked to British media exposes truth on BBC bias
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3318582,00.html
The Gulf War ended when Iraq formally accepted all coalition terms for a permanent ceasefire on March 3, 1991. Although elimination of all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction facilities was an integral part of the ceasefire agreement, Saddam Hussein continued after the war to enlarge such facilities and to disguise this effort from U.N. inspectors. Now, on the tenth anniversary of this important agreement, the international community allows Iraq to complete work on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
http://www.tzemach.org/fyi/docs/beres/iraq1.htm
Re: "The US & GB invaded & are occupying Iraq for the primary purpose of controlling their oil & gas."
If there is one thing that I have to give the Bush regime credit for, it is in their ability to stack the deck. If they can't get cheap, plentiful petroleum out of Iraq, no problem- the resulting high crude prices translate to stunning record profits for the oil barons.
Even if the oil plans don't work out, hey, at least they have a brand new mega-embassy and 14 permanent military bases. If those get blown up, oh well- at least they were able to funnel hundreds of billions of U.S. tax dollars into the coffers of their cronies.
Maybe they install a compliant puppet, like Chalabi, to rule Iraq? After all, it worked out so far in Afghanistan, where former UNOCAL executive Hamid Karzai rules as the "mayor of Kabul".
If a compliant puppet is not possible, fomenting chaos is a nice fallback position. Factional in-fighting leads to population reduction, brain drain, and a provides a great excuse to blame the %u201Cuncivilized%u201D Iraqis for their own suffering. Also, if the Iraqi people are divided and weak, then they can't focus on a concerted defense plan against Israel.
The oligarchs are playing for all of the marbles, and even when they appear to have failed, they still seem to find a way to grab a few.
Whether the BBC is a propaganda rag or not is irrelevant.
The UN did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
That is an absolute fact.
Only a court can decide whether it was lawful, but we will have to wait for the war crimes trials so that can be determined.
Posted by tuckerndfw at 12:55 PM : Feb 03, 2007
Even with a draft, it would take the U.S. at least 3 years to build an army and Marine Corps that would have the wherewithall to invade Iran on top of what's on their plate now.
Building an army is more than putting civilians in uniform, Tucker.
2 Clinton article
1 article about Dutch Naked Sunday
1 on a man arrested for cussing
NONE ON THE NIE -- CONSERVATIVE DRUDGE REPORT THINK IT'S BIAS ??
Re: "The only way we are going to "get over it" is by indicting those resposnible for the unlawful invasion & occupation of Iraq. After which, they can be sued to recover the costs on behalf of the taxpayers."
I could not agree more with this assessment!
we agree for the most part.
But, from my viewpoint, it appears the chaos is intended. The oil barons have no intention of allowing a unity government representing the people to be established.
They ("we") are allowing the situation to get totally out of hand so we can justify the next Saddam Hussein when he establishes a brutal dictatorship over the Iraqi people.
The oil and gas must be controlled by a dictator. And, oil companies reap enormous profits by fomenting instability in the Middle East.
The game is far more sinister than it may appear on the surface.
My opinion is based on the history of "big oil" and US (and UK) involvement with "big oil" and the Middle East. The US & UK will support any dictator, the more brutal, the better, that caters to US & UK oil companies.
That is a historical, indisputable fact.
The invasion of Iraq was about bases - permanent American bases, 4 of them, to be built in Iraq to project American power in the middle east.
Oil was a concern, no doubt, but the invasion was about the bases. One on the western border to threaten syria, one on the eastern border to threaten Iran, one on the southern border to protect Saudi Arabia, and one on the northern border to protect Kurdistan.
Congress pulled the plug on the funding this last October for the bases as they accepted that the instability in Iraq would never allow for their existence.
The neocons knew they could never sell the invasion on the justification of wanting bases, so the WMD lie was cooked up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16953462/
Posted by tuckerndfw at 01:58 PM : Feb 03, 2007
Here's the hole in your theory: Big oil BENEFITS from a stable government that will honor agreements. Big oil does not benefit from chaos which results in their investment being blown up every week by guerillas. Think about it man.
The chaos was unanticipated by Bush/Cheney/Rice because of their downright ignorance of the people and their ignorance of history. Plain and simple.
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