27 Die In Chlorine Bomb Attack In Iraq

Suicide Bomber Crashes Truck Loaded With Toxic Chlorine Gas Into Police Checkpoint In Ramadi

(CBS/AP)  A suspected al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bomber smashed a truck loaded with TNT and toxic chlorine gas into a police check point Friday in Ramadi, killing at least 27 people — the ninth such attack since the terrorist organization's first known use of a chemical weapon in January.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, which asserts fealty to Osama bin Laden, was believed to be hitting back at Sunni tribesmen who are banding together to expel foreign fighters from their territory.

An Internet posting by the Islamic Army in Iraq, meanwhile, exposed a growing and deep split among even the most radical Sunni groups, who are linked under the umbrella organization called the Islamic State of Iraq.

And despite a hail of mortar rounds that wounded about a dozen people nationwide, the number of civilians reported killed or found dead was among the lowest — 19 — since the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown began more than seven weeks ago.

The bombing in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province and an insurgent stronghold, left many people nearby with breathing difficulties and some need hospitalization, according to police Maj. Jubair Rashid al-Nayef. Most were released in about 30 minutes. Thirty other victims were hospitalized with wounds from the explosion.

Police opened fire as the suicide bomber sped toward a checkpoint three miles west of the city, police Col. Tariq al-Dulaimi said. Nearby buildings were heavily damaged and police were searching the rubble for more victims.

In the first known chlorine attack on Jan. 28, also in Ramadi. Pentagon officials first disclosed the attack that killed at least 16 people. In low exposures, chlorine irritates the respiratory system, eyes and skin. Higher levels can lead to accumulation of fluid in the lungs and other symptoms. Death is possible with heavy exposure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In other developments:

A declassified Pentagon report released Thursday concludes that Saddam Hussein's government did not cooperate with al Qaeda prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The report was based on interrogations of the deposed leader and two of his former aides, well as seized Iraqi documents.

Iraq's prime minister on Friday ordered pension payments for senior officers of Saddam Hussein's military and offered a return to service for lower-ranking soldiers, a major step aimed at defusing the Sunni insurgency and meeting U.S. benchmarks for his government

Several National Guard brigades are expected to be notified soon that they could be sent to Iraq around the first of next year, according to a senior Defense Department official. It would be the first time full Guard combat brigades have been sent back to Iraq for second tours.

A federal appeals court refused to intervene Friday in the case of a U.S. citizen facing a death sentence in Iraq for his role in the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad. A three-judge panel said it is unable to step into the case because Muhammad Munaf was convicted by an Iraqi criminal court.

Infiltration of arms and fighters from Syria into Iraq has slowed, but a major reason is that the terrorists of al Qaeda in Iraq now need less foreign help, a senior U.S. general said Friday.

In an about-face by the U.S. government four years into the war in Iraq, America's fallen troops are being brought back to their families aboard charter jets instead of ordinary commercial flights, and the caskets are being met by honor guards in white gloves instead of baggage handlers with forklifts. That change — which took effect quietly in January and applies to members of the U.S. military killed in Afghanistan, too — came after a campaign waged by a father who was aghast to learn that his son's body was going to be unloaded like so much luggage.

A British-led raid on a police intelligence headquarters in southern Iraq last month ignored orders of an Iraqi judge, violated Iraq's sovereignty and violated a U.N. Security Council resolution, the government said on Friday. The report of an investigation into the raid said the commander of the U.S.-led Multi-National Forces should "officially apologize to the Iraqi people, the residents of Basra and the Interior Ministry."

Continued

• 1
• 2
• Next

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

Share:

Digg

Facebook

Yahoo! Buzz

Twitter

Mixx

Video and Galleries from Iraq After Saddam

• Photos Iraq Photos: July 6?July 12
• Photos Iraq Photos: June 29-July 5
• Photos Iraq Photos: June 22 ? June 28

Latest in Iraq After Saddam

Bombs Claim 50 in Iraq

Biden Meets with Key U.S. Leaders in Iraq

Senate Investigates Blackwater Subsidiary

Add a Comment See all 18 Comments

by radiob-2009 April 6, 2007 3:17 PM EDT

CBS you are about 6 hours late on this story.

Reply to this comment

by bluestardad April 6, 2007 3:32 PM EDT

WAS THIS BOMB THERE WHEN McCAIN WAS THERE? PENSE SAID THIS PLACE IS JUST LIKE ANY INDIANA MARKET! I LIVE IN INDIANA NEVER SEEN A CHLORINE BOMB!

Now the Prudent Person would ask, Why are we in Iraq even NOW? Maybe we have been drawn there for the interest of things other than American National Security Interest? If this can be proven then America can and should arrest Bush and Cheney their Entire Administration and put them on trial for War Crimes just like we did the Nazis after WWII.

If you follow the money trail you will find that most of those elected officials who support the war in Iraq are under the influence of AIPAC.

http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm



Now here is the real kicker! President Bush is funding Al Qaeda in Lebanon with funds from Iraq! This is Impeachment and Treason! Here is the proof Read it!
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

50 years of American involvement in the Middle East is enough. We Should get out of the entire Middle East! They have nothing worth one more American Life anywhere in the Middle East!
If you think Americas sacrifice is worth it contact your ELECTED OFFICIAL and tell them http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

The House Speakers email address: [e-mail]

[e-mail] Here is the Republican Party email address too!

[e-mail] Here is the Democratic Party email address also!

Reply to this comment

by radiob-2009 April 6, 2007 4:09 PM EDT

bluestardad Where at in Indiana?

Reply to this comment

by notblue April 6, 2007 4:20 PM EDT

The militants are now using deadly chlorine gas, it exemplifies that the bad guys will use anything that they can get there hands on, no regard for innocent civilians, no regard for the use of chemicals, no regard for civilized behavior just expanding barbarism. Is it time to retreat or fight this evil?

Reply to this comment

by tuckerndfw April 6, 2007 4:44 PM EDT

The Iraqi people have clearly decided they do not support Bush's idea of "democracy." There is no point in continuing to use US forces as cannon fodder or bomb detectors for people who do not want our form of government.

But, then again, the majority of Americans do not want George Bush's form of government, either. So, who can blame the Iraqis for rejecting the "Bush doctrine"?

Reply to this comment

by mcvet April 6, 2007 5:07 PM EDT

The militants are now using deadly chlorine gas, it exemplifies that the bad guys will use anything that they can get there hands on, no regard for innocent civilians, no regard for the use of chemicals, no regard for civilized behavior just expanding barbarism. Is it time to retreat or fight this evil?
Posted by notblue at 01:20 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Who said anything about retreat. You Fascist are UNBELIEVABLE. This is a CIVIL WAR you MORON and now we KNOW we invaded a nation, started a Civil War and that nation had NO CONNECTION to Bin Laden. In other words we're fighting in the WRONG Country. Now even a simple minded Nazi, like yourself, should be able to understand that. How can you fools just continue to believe Bush when EVEN our OWN military tells you he LIED to you? Even the poor German's weren't as bad as you losers. Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO Dumb as a box of rocks!!

Reply to this comment

by tuckerndfw April 6, 2007 5:14 PM EDT

Now even a simple minded Nazi, like yourself, should be able to understand that. How can you fools just continue to believe Bush when EVEN our OWN military tells you he LIED to you? Even the poor German's weren't as bad as you losers. Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO Dumb as a box of rocks!!

Posted by MCVet at 02:07 PM : Apr 06, 2007

*ROFL*

I totally agree with your comment.

The only people dumber than Bush trolls are the people who pay them to post their drivel.

Reply to this comment

by randalds April 6, 2007 5:21 PM EDT

Whack-a-mole. It is a military truism that an occupying army cannot win against a popular insurgency in the insurgents homeland without slaughtering the insurgents, civilians too, in mass numbers (which we or any civilized nation certainly will not do). Besides this we are not just trying to stop one popular insurgency we're trying to stop two of them, one Sunni and one Shiite. This was was unwinnable before it started and if Bush or Cheney or any of their brain-dead cronies bothered to ever read any kind of history book (or had at least a LITTLE commonsense) they would have known this. The stupidity of even starting this war is breathtaking.

Reply to this comment

by notblue April 6, 2007 5:40 PM EDT

Tucker, what qualifies you to speak for the IRAQI people??? Which Iraqi people? The minority Sunnis who tortured and murdered the Majority Shia under Sadam? Al Qauda militants? Iranian bomb makers? The tiny minority of suicide bombers? Or the twelve million that voted for democracy for the first time in 35 years? Which Iraqi's are you speaking for????

Reply to this comment

by tuckerndfw April 6, 2007 5:46 PM EDT

Tucker, what qualifies you to speak for the IRAQI people???

Posted by notblue at 02:40 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The "facts on the ground" speak for the Iraqi people.

They need no other spokesman.

Reply to this comment

by notblue April 6, 2007 5:51 PM EDT

Tucker, as usual you didn't have an intelligent response. And since you only get your facts from CBS and the rest of the leftwing propoganda outlets I can see why your brainwashing is so complete. Have you ever had an original idea? Sadly it doesn't seem so. Are you so naive not to realize a tiny minority of insurgents can screw up an entire country? Or is it just the tired old hate Bush thing controlling what little original thought you display?

Reply to this comment

by padams1010 April 6, 2007 5:58 PM EDT

You can always tell when the demos (donkeys) start crawling out of the wood work!! They start harping on President Bush! I just wish they knew their history better!! Vietnam was Kennedy and Johnson's war (democrats)... Nixon (republican) ended it!! I'm from that era and what happened with that war ... how it ended is the very reason terrorist thought they could bomb us with impunity!! Then Clinton proved to them even more we wouldn't DO anything if attacked (do I need to list all 8 of THOSE attacks). So go ahead, donkeys, let's prove them right again! I just have a hard time with all you opinionated people when having all volunteer troops doesn't require ANTYHING from you but your support!! Remember two things ... (1) If we, the American people, had moved sooner, we may have saved 6 million lives back in the 40's (2) We won the cold war because we stood our ground and were as good as our word!! And one more thing on WWII ... we STILL have troops in Germany and Japan ... that's over 60 years ... and you're mouthing about 4!! Get a life ... or better yet go to work for the media!!

Reply to this comment

by randalds April 6, 2007 6:02 PM EDT

Or is it just the tired old hate Bush thing controlling what little original thought you display?
Posted by notblue at 02:51 PM : Apr 06, 2007

I never understood why right wingers think it's some sort of shot for others to hate Bush? I hate Bush. I hate Cheney too. I hate them the same way I hate Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy. On a larger more appropriate scale I also hate Hitler, Mussolini and Pol Pot. All of these were mass murderers, some on a small scale and some on a historic scale, but mass murderers all. So are Bush and Cheney, though they're somewhere in-between so far with thier own body count. What's so surprising about hating evil and evil men? Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

Reply to this comment

by tuckerndfw April 6, 2007 6:16 PM EDT

Are you so naive not to realize a tiny minority of insurgents can screw up an entire country?

Posted by notblue at 02:51 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Naive?

If, after five years, a "tiny minority of insurgents" are still "*** up a country," then it is obvious the "tiny minority" isn't so tiny.

It appears you are not only naive, you are delusional. As I recall, the Bush administration recently demanded additional money and troops to quell this "tiny minority."

Which demonstrates the claim it is a "tiny minority" is just as bogus as all the other claims made by the Bush administration.

The "facts on the ground" speak for the Iraqi people. Neither you, George Bush, Israel, or anyone else can refute those facts.

Reply to this comment

by tuckerndfw April 6, 2007 6:40 PM EDT

Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

Posted by RandalDS at 03:02 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The passions of youth have been long gone in my life. I don't hate anyone, it seems like a waste of energy. Doesn't bother the intended target, but sure can cause havoc in a person's life if taken to the extreme.

I consider George Bush to be the most corrupt and incompetent president in US history. But, it is not an emotional issue. It is based on his demonstrated record of corruption and incompetency.

Which actually amuses me when people claim I hate Bush. They obviously do not know me. And, they also obviously obsess about hatred. Must be difficult to go through life fixated on hatred.

Don't waste your energy hating Bush or any of his corrupt cronies, including his paid trolls, they aren't worth it.

Reply to this comment

by zootallures2 April 6, 2007 7:49 PM EDT

Fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here?

Come on Bush, Americans love death, torture, and violence! How dare you let them have all the fun.

Bring the war to America!

Reply to this comment

by randalds April 7, 2007 1:31 AM EDT

Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

Posted by RandalDS at 03:02 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The passions of youth have been long gone in my life. I don't hate anyone, it seems like a waste of energy. Doesn't bother the intended target, but sure can cause havoc in a person's life if taken to the extreme.

Posted by tuckerndfw at 03:40 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Well at more then 50 I'm hardly a youth, but I find the passions of youth are what keep me going. Sure taken to it's extreme hate hurts the hater more then the hated, but to me it gives me purpose. Bush and Cheney and their various minions are so easy to hate too, mostly because they actually are guilty of horrendous crimes, esp mass murder, so it's not like I'm making up things to hate them for. In their case hate is not just a good thing, for me it's a requirement.

Reply to this comment

by toolmangler-2009 April 7, 2007 1:31 AM EDT

Chemical warfare now, Nucleer warfare as soon as Iran completes its 'energy' program. Oh!!! Excuse me!!!! I forgot... Iran and the extremist sympathizers only want electricity from their program but they want to do it themselves. They don't want anyone else doing it for them, even for free. Wonder why????

Oh1 Thats right I am out of my mind and delerious.

Reply to this comment

See all 18 Comments

Add a comment

Comment SUBMIT

Click here to add another comment.

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

Comment reply

Submit Cancel

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

Report offensive content:

If you believe this comment is offensive or violates the CBSNews.com Terms of Use, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the comment). Once reported, our staff will be notified and the comment will be reviewed.

Select type of offense:

Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language

Spam: Advertisements or commercial links

Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users

Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content

Comments (optional):

Report Cancel

E-mail this comment to a friend.

E-mail this to: (Separate multiple e-mail addresses with commas. Limited to 10 addresses.)

Your e-mail address:

Send me a copy of this message

Note: Your e-mail address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the e-mail and in case of transmission error. Neither your address nor the recipients's address will be used for any other purpose.

Add your own personal message: (Optional)

Hi, I found this user's comment on CBSNews.com and thought you might be interested in reading it. Send e-mail Cancel

[radiob-2009]

CBS you are about 6 hours late on this story.

[bluestardad]

WAS THIS BOMB THERE WHEN McCAIN WAS THERE? PENSE SAID THIS PLACE IS JUST LIKE ANY INDIANA MARKET! I LIVE IN INDIANA NEVER SEEN A CHLORINE BOMB!

Now the Prudent Person would ask, Why are we in Iraq even NOW? Maybe we have been drawn there for the interest of things other than American National Security Interest? If this can be proven then America can and should arrest Bush and Cheney their Entire Administration and put them on trial for War Crimes just like we did the Nazis after WWII.

If you follow the money trail you will find that most of those elected officials who support the war in Iraq are under the influence of AIPAC.

http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm



Now here is the real kicker! President Bush is funding Al Qaeda in Lebanon with funds from Iraq! This is Impeachment and Treason! Here is the proof Read it!
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

50 years of American involvement in the Middle East is enough. We Should get out of the entire Middle East! They have nothing worth one more American Life anywhere in the Middle East!
If you think Americas sacrifice is worth it contact your ELECTED OFFICIAL and tell them http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

The House Speakers email address: [e-mail]

[e-mail] Here is the Republican Party email address too!

[e-mail] Here is the Democratic Party email address also!

[radiob-2009]

bluestardad Where at in Indiana?

[notblue]

The militants are now using deadly chlorine gas, it exemplifies that the bad guys will use anything that they can get there hands on, no regard for innocent civilians, no regard for the use of chemicals, no regard for civilized behavior just expanding barbarism. Is it time to retreat or fight this evil?

[tuckerndfw]

The Iraqi people have clearly decided they do not support Bush's idea of "democracy." There is no point in continuing to use US forces as cannon fodder or bomb detectors for people who do not want our form of government.

But, then again, the majority of Americans do not want George Bush's form of government, either. So, who can blame the Iraqis for rejecting the "Bush doctrine"?

[mcvet]

The militants are now using deadly chlorine gas, it exemplifies that the bad guys will use anything that they can get there hands on, no regard for innocent civilians, no regard for the use of chemicals, no regard for civilized behavior just expanding barbarism. Is it time to retreat or fight this evil?
Posted by notblue at 01:20 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Who said anything about retreat. You Fascist are UNBELIEVABLE. This is a CIVIL WAR you MORON and now we KNOW we invaded a nation, started a Civil War and that nation had NO CONNECTION to Bin Laden. In other words we're fighting in the WRONG Country. Now even a simple minded Nazi, like yourself, should be able to understand that. How can you fools just continue to believe Bush when EVEN our OWN military tells you he LIED to you? Even the poor German's weren't as bad as you losers. Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO Dumb as a box of rocks!!

[tuckerndfw]

Now even a simple minded Nazi, like yourself, should be able to understand that. How can you fools just continue to believe Bush when EVEN our OWN military tells you he LIED to you? Even the poor German's weren't as bad as you losers. Sieg Heil Y'all. ROFLMAO Dumb as a box of rocks!!

Posted by MCVet at 02:07 PM : Apr 06, 2007

*ROFL*

I totally agree with your comment.

The only people dumber than Bush trolls are the people who pay them to post their drivel.

[randalds]

Whack-a-mole. It is a military truism that an occupying army cannot win against a popular insurgency in the insurgents homeland without slaughtering the insurgents, civilians too, in mass numbers (which we or any civilized nation certainly will not do). Besides this we are not just trying to stop one popular insurgency we're trying to stop two of them, one Sunni and one Shiite. This was was unwinnable before it started and if Bush or Cheney or any of their brain-dead cronies bothered to ever read any kind of history book (or had at least a LITTLE commonsense) they would have known this. The stupidity of even starting this war is breathtaking.

[notblue]

Tucker, what qualifies you to speak for the IRAQI people??? Which Iraqi people? The minority Sunnis who tortured and murdered the Majority Shia under Sadam? Al Qauda militants? Iranian bomb makers? The tiny minority of suicide bombers? Or the twelve million that voted for democracy for the first time in 35 years? Which Iraqi's are you speaking for????

[tuckerndfw]

Tucker, what qualifies you to speak for the IRAQI people???

Posted by notblue at 02:40 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The "facts on the ground" speak for the Iraqi people.

They need no other spokesman.

[notblue]

Tucker, as usual you didn't have an intelligent response. And since you only get your facts from CBS and the rest of the leftwing propoganda outlets I can see why your brainwashing is so complete. Have you ever had an original idea? Sadly it doesn't seem so. Are you so naive not to realize a tiny minority of insurgents can screw up an entire country? Or is it just the tired old hate Bush thing controlling what little original thought you display?

[padams1010]

You can always tell when the demos (donkeys) start crawling out of the wood work!! They start harping on President Bush! I just wish they knew their history better!! Vietnam was Kennedy and Johnson's war (democrats)... Nixon (republican) ended it!! I'm from that era and what happened with that war ... how it ended is the very reason terrorist thought they could bomb us with impunity!! Then Clinton proved to them even more we wouldn't DO anything if attacked (do I need to list all 8 of THOSE attacks). So go ahead, donkeys, let's prove them right again! I just have a hard time with all you opinionated people when having all volunteer troops doesn't require ANTYHING from you but your support!! Remember two things ... (1) If we, the American people, had moved sooner, we may have saved 6 million lives back in the 40's (2) We won the cold war because we stood our ground and were as good as our word!! And one more thing on WWII ... we STILL have troops in Germany and Japan ... that's over 60 years ... and you're mouthing about 4!! Get a life ... or better yet go to work for the media!!

[randalds]

Or is it just the tired old hate Bush thing controlling what little original thought you display?
Posted by notblue at 02:51 PM : Apr 06, 2007

I never understood why right wingers think it's some sort of shot for others to hate Bush? I hate Bush. I hate Cheney too. I hate them the same way I hate Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez, Jeffery Dahmer and Ted Bundy. On a larger more appropriate scale I also hate Hitler, Mussolini and Pol Pot. All of these were mass murderers, some on a small scale and some on a historic scale, but mass murderers all. So are Bush and Cheney, though they're somewhere in-between so far with thier own body count. What's so surprising about hating evil and evil men? Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

[tuckerndfw]

Are you so naive not to realize a tiny minority of insurgents can screw up an entire country?

Posted by notblue at 02:51 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Naive?

If, after five years, a "tiny minority of insurgents" are still "*** up a country," then it is obvious the "tiny minority" isn't so tiny.

It appears you are not only naive, you are delusional. As I recall, the Bush administration recently demanded additional money and troops to quell this "tiny minority."

Which demonstrates the claim it is a "tiny minority" is just as bogus as all the other claims made by the Bush administration.

The "facts on the ground" speak for the Iraqi people. Neither you, George Bush, Israel, or anyone else can refute those facts.

[tuckerndfw]

Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

Posted by RandalDS at 03:02 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The passions of youth have been long gone in my life. I don't hate anyone, it seems like a waste of energy. Doesn't bother the intended target, but sure can cause havoc in a person's life if taken to the extreme.

I consider George Bush to be the most corrupt and incompetent president in US history. But, it is not an emotional issue. It is based on his demonstrated record of corruption and incompetency.

Which actually amuses me when people claim I hate Bush. They obviously do not know me. And, they also obviously obsess about hatred. Must be difficult to go through life fixated on hatred.

Don't waste your energy hating Bush or any of his corrupt cronies, including his paid trolls, they aren't worth it.

[zootallures2]

Fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here?

Come on Bush, Americans love death, torture, and violence! How dare you let them have all the fun.

Bring the war to America!

[randalds]

Makes perfect sense to me to hate them all.

Posted by RandalDS at 03:02 PM : Apr 06, 2007

The passions of youth have been long gone in my life. I don't hate anyone, it seems like a waste of energy. Doesn't bother the intended target, but sure can cause havoc in a person's life if taken to the extreme.

Posted by tuckerndfw at 03:40 PM : Apr 06, 2007

Well at more then 50 I'm hardly a youth, but I find the passions of youth are what keep me going. Sure taken to it's extreme hate hurts the hater more then the hated, but to me it gives me purpose. Bush and Cheney and their various minions are so easy to hate too, mostly because they actually are guilty of horrendous crimes, esp mass murder, so it's not like I'm making up things to hate them for. In their case hate is not just a good thing, for me it's a requirement.

[toolmangler-2009]

Chemical warfare now, Nucleer warfare as soon as Iran completes its 'energy' program. Oh!!! Excuse me!!!! I forgot... Iran and the extremist sympathizers only want electricity from their program but they want to do it themselves. They don't want anyone else doing it for them, even for free. Wonder why????

Oh1 Thats right I am out of my mind and delerious.