BAGHDAD, April 6, 2007
27 Die In Chlorine Bomb Attack In Iraq
Suicide Bomber Crashes Truck Loaded With Toxic Chlorine Gas Into Police Checkpoint In Ramadi
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An Iraqi holds a British soldier's helmet after a roadside bomb killed four soliders on patrol in Basra, April 5, 2007. (AP)
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U.S. troops patrol a market in Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad, April 5, 2007. (AP)
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Workers try to fix damage to an oil pipeline caused by planted explosives near the city of Safwan, April 5, 2007. (AP)
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A car burns after a car bombing near a Sunni Muslim television station in Baghdad, April 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Asaad Mouhsin)
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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.
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Interactive Iraq: 4 Years Later The conflict wears on as the nation struggles to rebuild.
In a Thursday posting, the Islamic Army charged that al Qaeda — a key group inside the Islamic State — was killing fighters of the Islamic army and other militant Sunni groups if they did not pledge loyalty to al Qaeda.
It also charged that al Qaeda had killed Harith Dhaher al-Dhari, a field commander of the 1920 Revolutionary Brigades, another organization under the Islamic State umbrella.
"All Sunni people have become targets for them (al Qaeda), especially the wealthy. They either have to pay or be killed. Anyone who criticizes al Qaeda or disagrees or points out its mistakes is killed," the posting said.
The Site Institute, which tracks militant postings and comment on the Internet said, "so far, the response ... has been one of overwhelming support for the Islamic State of Iraq and (its leader) Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, suggesting that the letter issued by the Islamic Army in Iraq may have seriously damaged the group's reputation among jihadists (holy warriors)."
The U.S. military reported the death of a 20th service member so far this month — a soldier killed in a shooting Thursday in Kirkuk province. The military said the incident was under investigation, indicating the soldier did not die in combat. Spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly said he could give no further details.
An average of four soldiers have died or been killed in each of the first five days of the month. Were that pace to continue, the monthly toll would be 120 and the highest since Nov. 2004, when U.S. forces were besieging Fallujah, then another Anbar province insurgent stronghold.
In the deep south of the country, the Basra police commander said the type of roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers on Thursday had not been seen in the region previously. Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi's description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared Iranian-designed explosively formed penetrator.
Two more of the bombs were discovered planted along routes heavily traveled by U.S. and British diplomats in Basra. Weeks earlier, the American military had claimed Iran was supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with the powerful weapons, known as EFPs. The bombs hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles.
Al-Moussawi said two similar bombs had been discovered Friday morning; one was discovered on the road leading to Basra Palace, the compound that houses a British base and the British and U.S. consulates. A second was uncovered in the western Hayaniyah district where Thursday's attack occurred. The area is known as a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Tony Blair called the Basra attack an "act of terrorism" and suggested it may have been the work of militiamen linked to Iran but stopped short of issuing an outright accusation against Tehran. The British were killed the same day Iran released a captured British navy crew that was held for nearly two weeks for allegedly straying into Iranian waters.
Reflecting on that incident and the deaths of the British soldiers, Bruce Riedel, a scholar at the Brookings Institution Saban Center, said Tehran was flexing its muscle to show both Britain and America that it could strike at will.
"They have identified the British forces in Iraq and in the Gulf as a prime vulnerability," Riedel said. “I don't think I can prove it, but I think it's very interesting that in the last 100 hours six British soldiers have been killed by Shiites in Basra.”
Britain lost two other soldiers this week, one on Sunday and a second on Monday.
Nearer to Baghdad, Iraqi forces backed by American paratroopers swept into a troubled, predominantly Shiite city before dawn, and killed three militia fighters, the U.S. military said. Twenty-seven militants were captured and two Iraqi and one U.S. soldier suffered wounds.
Residents reported heavy fighting between the U.S. and Iraqi forces and gunmen of the Mahdi Army militia in the city 80 miles south of Baghdad.
"A facility was found where several explosively formed projectiles were in several stages of production. Four EFPs were assembled in the facility and secured. EFP-making materials were also found and secured," the military said.
Dr. Hameed Jaafi, the director of Diwaniyah Health Directorate, said an American helicopter fired on a house in the Askari neighborhood, seriously wounding 12 people as the early morning assault began.
Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a military spokesman, said there were no U.S. air strikes either by helicopters or planes.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
Oh1 Thats right I am out of my mind and delerious.
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.
Come on Bush, Americans love death, torture, and violence! How dare you let them have all the fun.
Bring the war to America!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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"?
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: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
info@gop.com Here is the Republican Party email address too!
democraticparty@democrats.org Here is the Democratic Party email address also!
- by radiob-2009 April 6, 2007 3:17 PM EDT
- CBS you are about 6 hours late on this story.
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