106 Shiite Pilgrims Killed In Iraq Attacks
U.S. Military Also Says 9 GIs Were Killed By Roadside Bombs
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Play CBS Video Video Over 100 Killed In Iraq Blasts Over 100 Shiite pilgrims were killed while on a religious trek south of Baghdad, one day after the deadliest day for U.S. troops in over a month. Aleen Sirgany reports.
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Video New Phase In Iraq Crackdown In Iraq, the security crackdown has entered a new phase: U.S. and Iraqi forces are moving into another part of Baghdad, a Shiite stronghold, where few American troops are seen. Allen Pizzey reports.
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Video Lull Shattered In Iraq A suicide bomber struck a crowded business area in Baghdad, killing at least 24, while U.S. forces were engaged in a major security operation elsewhere in the city. Tracy Strahan reports.
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Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division and Iraqi National policemen patrol the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad on March 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
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A relative of a victim grieves a day after bomb blast at book market, central Baghdad, March 6, 2007. (AP Photo)
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A U.S. soldier of the 69th squadron, 3rd brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, stands guard by a bullet-riddled wall of an abandoned Shiite family's home just outside Muqdadiyah, Iraq, March 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)
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People gather near the scene of a suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad on March 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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An Iraqi Army commando guards Muslim Shiite pilgrims marching towards the shrine city of Karbala, about 65 miles south of Baghdad, on March 6, 2007. (Getty Images/Mohammad Sawaf)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive New Plan For Iraq Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
The pilgrimage is one of the most important events on the Shiite calendar, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey. But conspicuous by its absence was security.
After a temporary fall in body counts and bombings brought a statement from the government that the new security operation was "a shining success," the past two days are a horrific reminder that full-scale sectarian war is as close as security is a distant hope.
U.S. forces, too, continue to tally losses at the hands of extremists despite signs of more successful raids against bases and weapon stockpiles.
The military said nine soldiers were killed Monday in two separate roadside bombings north of Baghdad, making it the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Iraq in nearly a month.
In Baghdad, U.S. forces continued their push into Sadr City, home to 2.5 million of the city's poorest residents as well as fighters loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Some 600 American soldiers searched the neighborhood's northwest quadrant, knocking on doors and searching homes, according to an Associated Press reporter traveling with them.
As the mission, called Operation Imposing Law, has progressed, Iraqi troops have outnumbered Americans 2-to-1, the exact opposite of previous missions, adds Pizzey from Baghdad.
The U.S. forces are seeking a "reconciliatory approach" to avoid sparking a backlash on the streets, said Col. Richard Kim. One small gesture seemed to offer appreciation: a child offering soldiers ice cream bars.
"A brutal massacre against people who are only practicing their faith" was how Shiite lawmaker Sami al-Askari described the Hillah attacks, which injured at least 157 people.
Dr. Mohammed al-Temimi, at Hillah's main hospital, said some of injuries were critical and the death toll could rise.
The Hillah strike came after gunmen and bombers hit group after group of Shiite pilgrims elsewhere — some in buses and other making the traditional trek on foot to the shrine city of Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad. At least 24 were killed in those attacks, including four relatives of a prominent Shiite lawmaker, Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati.
This weekend, huge crowds of Shiite worshippers will gather for rites marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died near Karbala in a famed seventh-century battle.
In Hillah, southeast of Karbala, a long line of pilgrims marched toward a bridge checkpoint on the edge of the city. Food and cool drinks were distributed at nearby tents.
The first suicide bomber killed dozens and touched off a mad dash of people away from the bridge, said witness Salim Mohammed Ali Abbas. As the fleeing crowd grew thicker, another suicide bomber among them blew himself apart.
A police commander, Brig. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, said the attackers joined the procession outside Hillah and waiting until it reached the checkpoint bottleneck to try to maximize the damage.
"In an instant, bodies were set ablaze, people were running and the ground was mixed with teapots, kettles and other supplies for pilgrims," said Mahdi Kadim, one of the survivors.
In other developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 404 CommentsPosted by cbville72 at 11:40 PM : Mar 06, 2007
Here's a "reality check" the NIE, OCT. 2006:
"the conclusion is that Iraq has made us less safe because it has become a "cause celebre" and a rallying cry for jihad."
Posted by cbville72 at 11:40 PM : Mar 06, 2007
The electoral college is a relic of the past. The movement to dump it is loud and growing. It'll last one, maybe two more presidential elections and then it's gone. It gives far too high of proportional weight to the opinions of the smaller population states and not enough to the higher population states. The concept was fine, but the relationship between population of a state and it's electoral votes has become wildely out of whack. It's time to fix or dump it and I think dump it will be the choice.
Posted by RandalDS at 12:34 AM : Mar 07, 2007
then you are also for getting rid of the senate?
if they change the electoral college at all it should be to have each state with only two votes...... just like the senate.....
Posted by cbville72
If I were you I'd hold that apology for your own ignorance which seems to be quite massive. Speaking of pu$$y's you seem like a good candidate for that title yourself!! Why don't you crawl back under whatever rock you came from NEOCON a$$hole!!
%u201CI can say that President Bush is lying when he says he does not want Iraq to be partitioned. All the facts occurring now on the ground make you swear he is dragging Iraq to partition. And a day will come when he will say, %u2018I cannot do anything, since the Iraqis want the partition of their country and I honor the wishes of the people of Iraq.%u2019 %u201D
seymour hersh - great reporter!
So, is the end game of the Bush Neocon War - a new map of the Middle East ??
- Patrick Fitzgerald
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
The "liberal media" have been very kind to Bush, otherwise he never would have been re-elected. Besides, Bush never accomplished anything on his own, and he never would have become president without his smearing and slandering neocon ***. He even smeared and slandered his fellow repugnicans.
Face it, cbville, you're in a dwindling minority, still backing a "LOSER." Without slimey Rove, crooked Cheney, and the slandering neocons, Bush would be a "LOSER." Bush has always been a "LOSER" and he will go down in history as a "LOSER." The WORST president ever.
That's correct! According to CNN's polls, Bush got 9% of the African American vote in 2000, and a WHOPPING 11% in 2004.
cbville72, you'd be better off spending your idle time picking fly ***** out of the pepper! "ROFLMMFAO!!"
lol! It was. It's like what Tony Snow does, repeat the same lie so many times that they think it becomes true and for the morons it does. Got to go though, the repeat of this weeks episode of Rome is coming on and I missed it Sunday. Great show!
Thanks for the clarification. Smelled like he pulled that one from the same place his head was stuck.
What is your source?
Posted by frankly6 at 12:29 AM : Mar 07, 2007
Bush got less of the African American vote in 2004, but FOX News reported an exit poll survey right after the election that claimed he got more and even though it's been discredited many many times, it's become part of republican folklore.
Posted by cbville72 at 11:40 PM : Mar 06, 2007
The electoral college is a relic of the past. The movement to dump it is loud and growing. It'll last one, maybe two more presidential elections and then it's gone. It gives far too high of proportional weight to the opinions of the smaller population states and not enough to the higher population states. The concept was fine, but the relationship between population of a state and it's electoral votes has become wildely out of whack. It's time to fix or dump it and I think dump it will be the choice.
Really? What percent of the African American vote did Bush get?
What is your source?
Sorry to let minor details like the facts get in the way of your of your fantasyland.
BTW...Who won that election in '04
I apologize for your ignorance
Wow Bush's new plan is going awsomely!
No wonder why he's got so much support.
but bush became a big man in the south.
dixie freaks and creeps...bush country!
they still love bush in the south.
Posted by seven-pesos at 10:45 PM : Mar 06, 2007
Ok...I'll educate you a little. Bush won more than the South. He carried 30 states in '04. Last time I checked Ohio wasn't in the South. That was the "battleground" state that was going to decide the election. Iowa isn't in the South, Oh yeah.....by the way.....neither is the ENTIRE midwest. Bush carried every one of those states. It again proved to the democrats that they can't win elections by winning NY, CAL "and a few otehr states" Thank god we have an electoral college, otherwise a bunch of liberal people who have no idea what reality is would get to speak for the entire country.
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