BAGHDAD, April 15, 2007

45 Dead In Wave Of Baghdad Bombings

3 Americans Killed In Separate Incidents; 2 U.K. Soldiers Dead After Helicopters Collide North Of Iraqi Capital

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    • An Iraqi policeman stands in front of a mini bus destroyed after a suicide bomber blew himself up in northwest Baghdad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. At least 8 people died in the blast and another 11 were wounded, an official at the Khazimiyah Hospital said.

      An Iraqi policeman stands in front of a mini bus destroyed after a suicide bomber blew himself up in northwest Baghdad, Iraq, April 15, 2007. At least 8 people died in the blast and another 11 were wounded, an official at the Khazimiyah Hospital said.  (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

    • Iraqi students held banners and signs demanding the end to the United States' presence in Iraq, in front of Baghdad's Al-Mustansiriya University, April 15, 2007.

      Iraqi students held banners and signs demanding the end to the United States' presence in Iraq, in front of Baghdad's Al-Mustansiriya University, April 15, 2007.  (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

    • An Iraqi youth stops his bicycle to inspect the site where a double car bombing tore through a crowded market area in southern Baghdad, April 15, 2007, killing at least 18 men, women and children. One car, packed with explosives, blew up outside a restaurant and the second in a nearby market in the Al-Shurta al-Arabaa district.

      An Iraqi youth stops his bicycle to inspect the site where a double car bombing tore through a crowded market area in southern Baghdad, April 15, 2007, killing at least 18 men, women and children. One car, packed with explosives, blew up outside a restaurant and the second in a nearby market in the Al-Shurta al-Arabaa district.  (Getty Images/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

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(AP)  Six bombs exploded in predominantly Shiite sections of the capital Sunday, killing at least 45 people in a renewal of sectarian carnage that set back the U.S. push to pacify Baghdad.

North of Baghdad, two British helicopters crashed after an apparent mid-air collision, killing two service members, U.K. officials said.

And in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, health officials raised the toll from a bombing Saturday close to one of the sect's most sacred shrines, saying 47 people were killed and 224 wounded.

The military also reported the deaths of two U.S. soldiers and a Marine, killed in separate incidents in Iraq. One soldier was killed by small arms fire Sunday while trying to reach an Iraqi police unit under attack near a mosque in southern Baghdad. One civilian was wounded in the incident.

Another soldier died Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded while the unit was on a foot patrol south of Baghdad. A Marine died the same day in combat in Anbar province, the military said. The victims' names were withheld pending family notification.

Twin car bombs exploded minutes apart in the busy market of Baghdad's Shurta Rabia neighborhood, a mostly Shiite area in the city's west. The first blast went off at midmorning in front of a kebab restaurant. Five minutes later, another car exploded nearby as rescuers were evacuating victims. Many women and children were among the casualties, police said.

Shortly after noon, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a minibus near a courthouse in the mainly Shiite northwest Baghdad neighborhood of al-Utafiyah, killing at least eight people and wounding 11, officials said.

Many of the victims were severely burned, an official at the Khazimiyah Hospital said.

About three hours later, a minibus rigged with explosives detonated on a busy street of electronics shops in the predominantly Shiite central Karradah district, killing 11 people and wounding 15, authorities said.

The owner of a glass shop said he saw a suspect park the bus at the roadside and leave.

"It was an ordinary thing because usually bus drivers stop there waiting for passengers, so we didn't suspect anything," said the witness, who gave only his nickname, Abu Jassim.

"Five minutes later, the bus blew up — damaging the surrounded area and burning more than eight civilian cars that were passing by," he said.

In the same district after nightfall, two roadside bombs exploded within five minutes of each other, killing at least eight civilians and wounding 23, police said.

Six shops and several cars parked nearby were damaged by the blasts, which occurred about 20 yards apart, police said.

The two British helicopters crashed after an apparent collision 12 miles north of Baghdad, killing two British personnel. Four other personnel were injured in the crash, one very seriously.

U.K. Defense Secretary Des Browne said that initial reports suggested the crash was an accident.

"Sadly, two personnel have died and one is very seriously injured. All of these were UK personnel. My thoughts and sympathy are with them and their families," Browne said, adding that the next of kin had been informed.

British forces, headquarters in the southern city of Basra, rarely fly missions north of Baghdad, where the helicopters crashed.

"I can't talk about the particular mission they were involved in, but we do have units operating as part of the coalition across Iraq," a British defense ministry official said on condition of anonymity, in line with government policy.

Meanwhile, dozens of Iraqi policemen demonstrated in front of their Baghdad station Sunday, accusing U.S. forces of treating them like "animals" and "slaves."

The protest took place at Rashad station in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Mashtal.

Officers chanted "No, no to America! Get out occupiers!" while U.S. troops in two humvees and a Bradley fighting vehicle watched from a distance.

In Other Developments:

  • A possible presidential contender and one of the most vocal Republican critics of President Bush's Iraq policy, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, was in Baghdad and planned to hold a news conference here Sunday. It was his fifth trip to the war zone.

  • The crackdown also brought a Pentagon decision this past week to extend the deployments of U.S. troops from 12 to 15 months — a situation that the U.S. commander in Iraq acknowledged Saturday was "tough news." In a letter to his troops, Gen. David Petraeus expressed appreciation for "the hardship and strain the extension will put on you and your families," and he warned of "an enormous amount of hard work ahead."

  • Saturday's bloodshed in Karbala came when a parked car loaded with explosives blew up at a busy bus station at midmorning, killing at least 47 people and wounding 224, police and hospital officials said. Mourners swarmed ambulances, beating their chests and crying out in grief. Some stormed the Karbala governor's office, demanding his resignation and blaming local authorities for lax security. Two police vehicles were set afire. A spokesman for a top Shiite cleric in Karbala, Mohammed Taqi al-Mudarsi, said three civilians were killed in clashes with police. "The behavior of Iraqi security forces was uncivil," said the spokesman, Ahmed Al-Shakarji. "People were trying to rescue their relatives and friends ... but the security forces opened fire on them."

  • In addition to the bombings in Karbala and Baghdad, at least 40 people were killed or found dead across Iraq on Saturday.

  • The U.S. military announced the death of one service member, killed Friday by a roadside bomb in southern Iraq.

    © MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
    Add a Comment See all 846 Comments
    by mh4cbs1 April 17, 2007 2:52 AM EDT
    The Bush and Cheney LIES that got us into Iraq has resulted in THOUSANDS of sick, horrific "Virginia Tech Massacres" to take place in Iraq.

    In the Bush Cheney War Of Terror 3,300 US troops have died. Visualize it. If their coffins were lined up end to end, they would extend for over FOUR MILES. Visualize the line of coffins next time you are driving down the highway at 60 mph. Imagine for four long minutes the coffins rushing past you, each with grieving families fatherless kids.

    Where is the outrage in the corporate media for the BUSH horror, the Bush Massacre?

    When will patriotic Americans demand JAIL for Bush and Cheney murderous thugs? While they did not personally pull the trigger in their massacre of thousands, it has been a 'Virgina Tech' massacre ONE THOUSAND FOLD that their deliberate LIES are responsible for.
    Reply to this comment
    by waynabq April 17, 2007 12:57 AM EDT
    Bush's strategy for Iraq, keep the troops there long enough so the next President will have to take care of his heaping pile. He doesn't won't to leave office as a "loser".

    Pathetic, truly pathetic. To call Bush a Chimp is an insult to monkeys everywhere. Bush is a bumbling incompetent and corrupt buffoon. He's surrounded himself with fellow buffoons, Rove, Cheney, Gonzalez, Rice, Perino, Snow. What a bunch of pathetic lying slimballs.
    Reply to this comment
    by waynabq April 17, 2007 12:48 AM EDT
    "Either that or it's shift change at the RNC online bullsh*it center and the next set of paid cra*p artists is coming on. Either way I'm going to go surf rather then wait for this idiot (or his relief bullsh*itter) to try to come up with answers.
    Posted by RandalDS at 01:09 AM : Apr 16, 2007
    "

    I wouldn't be surprised. Just a bit of trivia, did you know Joseph Stalin had an approval rating of 31% even when the Russian people found out about his concentration camps that caused the deaths of millions of political opponents? That's about where Bush's current job approval rating stands.

    You heard about the horrible shootings that happened at Virginia Tech? Multiple that by a factor of about 10,000, that's what Bush/Cheney unleashed in Iraq with their WMD lies and their fabricated "intelligence". The American public just doesn't care if there are no direct consequences. We live in an insane world.
    Reply to this comment
    by neoconrcrazy April 16, 2007 9:52 AM EDT
    Blah, blah, blah. How many times do you people need to be set straight on this. Iraq was invaded on what was credible information and it was unanimously supported at the time.


    Posted by sdb101

    Colin Powell's COS at State Dept. said :

    LAWRENCE WILKERSON: It makes me feel terrible. I've said in other places that it was-- constitutes the lowest point in my professional life. My participation in that presentation at the UN constitutes the lowest point in my professional life.

    I participated in a hoax on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council. How do you think that makes me feel? Thirty-one years in the United States Army and I more or less end my career with that kind of a blot on my record? That's not a very comforting thing.

    Need any more sdb101 ?


    Reply to this comment
    by radiob-2009 April 16, 2007 9:25 AM EDT
    CBS a bit behind on updates, according to ABC 3000 Iraqis protested in Basra, al; 37 members of Sadr party are to quit with 6 leaving the cabinent today.
    Reply to this comment
    by thehobman April 16, 2007 9:20 AM EDT
    1 The Press is a fountain Of Information For The
    Enemy.. But We Have To Protect Them Overseas

    2 I Think As Long
    As They Are Over There They Should Protect Themselves

    3 They Have All The Ratings And Money.
    They Never Have Any Good News To report On Anything Good We Do Anywhere

    4 Because They Think They Are Experts They Hide Behind Freedom Of The Press

    5 They Have Killed Many Solders Because Of Their Information They Let Out. On
    Everything We Do

    6 If I Were In Charge I Would Tell Them To Get Out. Or Go On The Other side And Be With There Friends The Insurgents And See How Long You Will Last...

    7 I%u2019m Sick Of The Press All Doom And Gloom
    Reply to this comment
    by neoconrcrazy April 16, 2007 8:18 AM EDT
    . Bush/Cheney understand the great importance of this as well.

    Sooo, far from what the cynics and defeatists are telling us, in fact this war is extremely important
    Posted by sdb101


    BushCheney constructed this war, lied to America, and should burn in helll for doing it. They are responsible for untold death and destruction. May their names live forever in infamy.

    Reply to this comment
    by neoconrcrazy April 16, 2007 5:41 AM EDT
    No American Welfare State for Iraq.

    Lose that Welfare State mentality.

    If Iraqis themselves don't win the war for democracy, it won't be won in Iraq.

    Posted by Iceman_1960


    As most of know, international terrorism is to a high degree fueled by the Palestinian-israeli conflict for over 50 years.

    Living in an interconnected world, Iceman's Iraqi comments apply here as well. Let me say then;

    No American welfare State for israel -
    Abandon the American welfare mentality -
    israel must impliment UN resolutions 242/338
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb April 16, 2007 4:54 AM EDT
    I'm now worried about the cost of the Iraq war. The U.S. can't continue to pay for it with deficit spending and not suffer eventually. I think the U.S. should create a separate "war tax", I know! Bite my tongue! But if this continues and it looks like it will in the short term, it may be the smart thing to do! Okay, I'm ducking and I've put my flame resistant suit on! LOL
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 4:09 AM EDT
    Either that or it's shift change at the RNC online bullsh*it center and the next set of paid cra*p artists is coming on. Either way I'm going to go surf rather then wait for this idiot (or his relief bullsh*itter) to try to come up with answers.
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 3:59 AM EDT
    Looks like he left to google some military information so he can pretend to be a vet like didntinhale.
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 3:52 AM EDT
    How many American lives are you and your fellow neocons willing to waste forcing American style Democracy on a country that doesn't want it?

    Posted by frankly6 at 12:45 AM : Apr 16, 2007

    Like all cowards, like Bush and Cheney, as many deaths as it takes to clean out the vaults of the American taxpayers. just as long as those deaths or risks are not theirs or anyone they know.
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 April 16, 2007 3:50 AM EDT
    "We all know Iran will grab Iraq if the US pulls out" - sbd101

    How do we know that ?

    Obviously it isn't an easy country to "grab" -- just ask General Petraeus.

    Iran isn't even an Arab country; in fact most Iranians regard Arabs with scorn; and Iran already has plenty of oil.

    Why would they want to be embroiled in that mess ? What would they possibly gain by occupying Iraq ?

    Nothing.
    Reply to this comment
    by frankly6 April 16, 2007 3:45 AM EDT


    sdb101

    How many American lives are you and your fellow neocons willing to waste forcing American style Democracy on a country that doesn't want it?

    How many trillions of dollars should we spend?

    How many failed plans should we as a nation be asked to endure and pay for?

    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 3:45 AM EDT
    [Now THAT'S religious lunacy! Posted by RandalDS]

    That's not a refutation, that's a baseless assertion.

    Posted by sdb101 at 12:33 AM : Apr 16, 2007


    No, it's a statement of fact. A "My god is stronger then your god" statement is always religious lunacy. It makes you and your god just as nuts as the Muslim religious extremists and their god. Funny considering neither of your gods exists anywhere other then in the fevered minds of folks like you. You're dying and killing for a myth. Not that IS nuts.
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 3:41 AM EDT
    Oh you mean let all the terrorist groups have a free-for-all and the biggest terrorists wins all the chips? Who do you think you're fooling and you're running in circles.

    Posted by sdb101 at 12:33 AM : Apr 16, 2007

    There are only a tiny tiny tiny number of terrorists in Iraq (and there weren't any before Bush was ignorant to kick the door down and let them in). The vast majority of people fighting there are Shiite and Sunni insurgents. Freedom fighters for their own side. they are not terrorists and they will not allow terrorists in THEIR country once they settle the new borders of THEIR country anymore then we would tolerate them here. They do not want to fight America, they just want us to get the hell out of the way so they can straighten out the mess that WE caused.

    Yes Iran will grad the southern portion of Iraq, thanks to Bush opening it up for them and removing their only real enemy in the region, but that's the price we'll have to pay for this huge fu*ck up of ours. Meaning of Bush's of course.
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 April 16, 2007 3:39 AM EDT
    It's human nature to postpone difficult tasks without a deadline. And the more difficult the task, the more it will be postponed.

    Bush wants nonbinding benchmarks that, if the Iraqi government fails to meet them, well, just try a little harder, boys...

    That's c*rap.

    Even little, painless things like filing your taxes, renewing your drivers license, paying your electric bill, getting ready to take the SATs, come with deadlines, not nonbinding benchmarks, or they won't get done.

    Tell the Iraqi government that in one year, all American troops will be gone, so if all the Bush-Cheney rhetoric about "12 million brave Iraqis risking death to vote" - etc. etc. - has an ounce of truth in it, the Iraqi government forces will be ready by then.

    No American Welfare State for Iraq.

    Lose that Welfare State mentality.

    If Iraqis themselves don't win the war for democracy, it won't be won in Iraq.
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds April 16, 2007 3:36 AM EDT
    Blah, blah, blah. How many times do you people need to be set straight on this. Iraq was invaded on what was credible information and it was unanimously supported at the time.

    You whiners fight like women-since you can't beat us in a real war, you're trying to make us feel guilty, ashamed, regretful, etc.

    Posted by sdb101 at 12:23 AM : Apr 16, 2007

    Iraq was invaded based on out right lies from Bush and Cheney. The idea and plan for invading Iraq was cooked up before Bush even became president by The Project for the New American Century. On paper it looked good to the morons who thought it up, except for the fact that they didn't consider that the Iraqi people might not want American style democracy...and they do NOT. They never did. This idiotic plan was flawed from the beginning. And no there was nothing unanimous about it. Many of us opposed this insane war from the beginning because we saw that it could never work! That it had ZERO chance of working. That it would become a quagmire and it is.

    As for fighting like women you might want to keep your fu*cking mouth shut about that since today some of our toughest troops ARE women. Also my war was Vietnam. What was yours? With your parents over the keys to the family car last week?
    Reply to this comment
    by sdb101-2009 April 16, 2007 3:33 AM EDT
    [Now THAT'S religious lunacy! Posted by RandalDS]

    That's not a refutation, that's a baseless assertion.

    [And will be until we get out, let them settle on a government they want (and it won't be a democracy that's for sure) Posted by RandalDS]

    Oh you mean let all the terrorist groups have a free-for-all and the biggest terrorists wins all the chips? Who do you think you're fooling and you're running in circles.

    We all know Iran will grab Iraq if the US pulls out, everything else you say is gibberish. This is why the US has to stay, until Iraq is a good little US client-state that does our bidding, not Iran's or Al Qaeda's.

    Anyways, that's it for me-enjoy spinning the same broken record you and your jihadist butt-buddies are doing here. You might fool people stupider than yourself-but most won't fall for your defeatist, anti-US rabble. bye

    Reply to this comment
    by sdb101-2009 April 16, 2007 3:23 AM EDT
    [Suicide bomb truck driving is no job for the timid. Posted by Iceman_1960]

    True, its a job for a brainwashed gimp who think's he'll see 72 virgins after he's dead.

    [We are the invaders and occupiers.THEY are the freedom fighters. Posted by RandalDS]

    Blah, blah, blah. How many times do you people need to be set straight on this. Iraq was invaded on what was credible information and it was unanimously supported at the time.

    But its irrelevant. One can also argue that the invasion was based on false information-deliberately for the intent to weaken the region and offer the US a greater strategic advantage to later attack Iran/reform the mideast, turn it into a parking lot, etc. Point being, no one is going to lose sleep over a bunch religious nutjobs who intend to destroy freedom and democracy.

    You whiners fight like women-since you can't beat us in a real war, you're trying to make us feel guilty, ashamed, regretful, etc. What you don't understand is that we want to destroy Islam (the way you want to destroy the West) and this is just the start of that process. Zinger!

    [We are not going to let you addle-headed fear-mongerers blackmail the U.S. into keeping 130,000 American troops in harm's way Posted by Iceman_1960]

    Talk is cheap and you and your insurgent friends who want the troops out aren't doing a very good job.
    Reply to this comment
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