BAGHDAD, May 16, 2007

Bomb Kills 32 In Iraq Shiite Enclave

Leaflets Dropped In South Baghdad Seek Info On Missing Troops; 9 Iraqis Die In Fighting

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    • Iraqi youths burn car tires during a protest against power shortages in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, May 16, 2007.

      Iraqi youths burn car tires during a protest against power shortages in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, May 16, 2007.  (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

    • Marine Lance Corporal Larry Martin from Odessa, Texas of Mobile Assault Platoon 3 of Weapons Company 2 Battalion, 7th Marines patrols in the area known as Zaidon in the Al Anbar province near Fallujah, Iraq, May 14, 2007.

      Marine Lance Corporal Larry Martin from Odessa, Texas of Mobile Assault Platoon 3 of Weapons Company 2 Battalion, 7th Marines patrols in the area known as Zaidon in the Al Anbar province near Fallujah, Iraq, May 14, 2007.  (Getty Images/Joe Raedle)

    • A U.S. soldier gestures at the site of a car bomb in the Karrada district near Baghdad city center, May 14, 2007.

      A U.S. soldier gestures at the site of a car bomb in the Karrada district near Baghdad city center, May 14, 2007.  (Getty Images/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

    • Staff Sgt. Redoc Jordan, 43, from Waiawa, Hawaii looks behind him as soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division search a block in the Rashid neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday May 15, 2007.

      Staff Sgt. Redoc Jordan, 43, from Waiawa, Hawaii looks behind him as soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division search a block in the Rashid neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday May 15, 2007.  (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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(CBS/AP)  A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a Shiite enclave northeast of the capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding 50, police said Wednesday. Hospital officials and wounded victims said chlorine gas may have been used in the attack, but police and the U.S. military denied that.

The attack occurred near an outside market in the village of Abu Saydah in the volatile Diyala province, local police said, giving the casualty toll.

Residents of the farming village of 10,000 people said the attack appeared to be revenge for a confrontation a month ago in which locals killed 12 al-Qaida fighters. They said residents had fought back against Sunni militants trying to storm the village and 10 days later received threats to leave the village or face death.

It was not clear why the bombing went unreported until Wednesday, more than 12 hours after police said the explosion occurred.

Hospital officials and victims said it appeared chlorine gas was used in the attack since many of the wounded were having difficulty breathing and their sight was affected. But Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a U.S. military spokesman in northern Iraq, and provincial Iraqi police officials denied that toxic gas was involved.

"Our folks on the scene ... who are investigating this do not have any of those indications," Donnelly told The Associated Press. But the investigation was continuing, he said.

One man had a white cloth across his eyes as he lay in his hospital bed; others were bandaged from head to toe.

Abu Saydah is a mainly Shiite village about 25 miles northeast of the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Baqouba, the capital of the province that has seen a recent spike in violence largely blamed on militants who fled Baghdad ahead of a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.

Kadim Hussein, a 45-year-old farmer who was taken to the Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City, claimed the hospitals in Baqouba would only accept Sunnis.

"My eyes became puffy due the chlorine gas that was packed in the car bomb," he said, adding he also had difficulties breathing.

A hospital official said the facility had received three bodies and 11 of those wounded who all showed symptoms of chlorine poisoning. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Diyala province — with its mixed Shiite and Sunni Muslim population — has been the scene of frequent violence of a sectarian nature as well as attacks by anti-U.S. insurgents.

Meanwhile, thousands of U.S. forces continued to search for three American soldiers feared captured by al Qaeda last week after an attack on their convoy south of Baghdad, which also killed four U.S. troops and an Iraqi soldier.

U.S. aircraft dropped leaflets on an area south of Baghdad Wednesday, seeking information on three soldiers feared captured. Trucks with loudspeakers were roaming the area urging people to come forward with any information. No details of the leaflets or their precise message were released.

They were lost Saturday in an ambush in the so-called Triangle of Death. Four of their comrades were killed.

An umbrella terror group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq claims responsibility and has warned the U.S. to stop the search.

All the soldiers are with the storied 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, New York.

In other developments:

  • A U.S. government report released Tuesday showed that the recent U.S. troop increase and security crackdown has had little effect on the high number of attacks in the country. The average number of attacks rose from 71 a day in January 2006 to a high of 176 per day in October, according to the report from the Government Accountability Office. In February, when the troop increase began to take effect, daily attacks dropped slightly to 164. Daily attacks averaged 157 in March and 149 in April, the report said.

  • Clashes broke out in the mostly Shiite city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq Wednesday, when a militia fought with police there after they arrested two wanted militia members, police said. Nine Iraqis were killed and 75 wounded, a police spokesman said.

  • Ten mortar rounds slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Wednesday, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding 10 other people, oficials said. The explosions occurred at about the same time the Green Zone was hit on Tuesday. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said 10 mortars struck the sprawling complex on the west bank of the Tigris River. He said the two killed were Iraqis as were eight of those wounded. He said two other foreigners were wounded but they were not Americans.

  • A small group of Republican senators, led by Virginia's John Warner, is coalescing around legislation that would threaten billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Iraq and make clear American troops will stay only as long as Baghdad lives up to its promises. The Senate was to vote (read more) on the proposal Wednesday, along with two Democratic anti-war measures.

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    Add a Comment See all 21 Comments
    by tbweb May 17, 2007 2:30 AM EDT
    Even if you happen to be one of those die hard loyal patriotic Americans who blindly supports the U.S. President no matter what they do, you still have to admit President Bush does not have the "Midas Touch" and not even close to having anything resembling a "Midas Touch", everything President Bush touches does not turn to Gold.
    Reply to this comment
    by randalds May 16, 2007 9:24 PM EDT
    The U.S. military WILL accomplish the mission unless the LIBS SURRENDER!
    Posted by mbcsmith at 10:22 AM : May 16, 2007


    Why do neocons hate our troops?
    Posted by wfbdem at 01:15 PM : May 16, 2007

    I don't know why? They wrap themselves in the flag, accuse those who disagree with them of being unpatriotic and not supporting the troops, when it's they who send our troops off to die in vain. For nothing, but money. The only conclusion one could have is that, in spite of their phony words, they have nothing but contempt for our brave young men in women in uniform. Even to the point of outright, though hidden, hatred. People who REALLY support the troops are the ones who want them to come home now, instead of having their lives thrown away in Bush's folly.
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 May 16, 2007 6:52 PM EDT
    FASCIST NAZI ISLAM TO ENSLAVE NON MUSLIM WORLD

    Islamic rule will benefit Christians and Jews
    by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook - May 14, 2007
    The force behind Hamas TV%u2019s controversial Mickey Mouse clone said today that his children%u2019s television program will continue to promote worldwide Islamic supremacy, for everyone's benefit, including Christians and Jews.
    In a long interview on Hamas TV, Hazim Al-Sha%u2019arawi, Deputy Director of Al-Aqsa TV and one of the creators of the Hamas children%u2019s TV show Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers, said that using the program to promote Islamic rule over other religions is actually promoting %u201Cjustice, goodness and world love.%u201D
    Al-Aqsa TV and the Palestinian Authority have been under fire since PMW reported last week that Tomorrow%u2019s Pioneers was using a character named Farfur, a knockoff of Disney%u2019s Mickey Mouse character, to convey messages about Islamic supremacy as well as hatred of Jews, Israel and the U.S. Despite public statements by PA Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouti that the show would be taken off the air until it could be reviewed and revised, a new episode of the program %u2013 featuring Al-Sha%u2019arawi as one of the hosts %u2013 ran Friday.
    http://pmw.org.il/bulletins_may2007.htm
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S995NCeaUg
    Reply to this comment
    by bluestardad May 16, 2007 5:55 PM EDT
    Sounds like another day in anywhere America! Eh John McCain! Maybe its a market in Indiana eh Mike Pence!

    Americans hold elected officials accountable for the deaths of our troops!
    Reply to this comment
    by dogband May 16, 2007 4:45 PM EDT
    Lets see if they want to trade Bush, Cheney, Rove and Libby for our captured soldiers?

    How about Bushes daughters? Those captured soldiers are someones children, so while W says OTHERS must make the ultimate sacrafice, why does he not step up to the plate and lead by example?

    The most worthless president in my countries history.
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 May 16, 2007 4:29 PM EDT
    NOW CAN WE KILL THEM???

    if it is ok for fascist nazi islamic muslims to kill all non muslims everywhere.... is it ok for the non muslims to kill all fascist nazi islamic muslims???

    Wouldn't killing 5.1 BILLION people (the number of non muslims in the world) be the very definition of barbarism???
    Or is it fascist nazi islam%u2019s way of solving global warming???

    Switching Sides: Inside The Enemy Camp

    But then in 2000, well before his arrest, something happened which would make Abas question everything he believed in: a fatwa, a religious edict, was issued by Osama bin Laden.

    "It should be understood that killing Americans and Jews anywhere found are the highest act of worship and the highest form of good deeds in the eyes of Allah," Simon quotes bin Laden.

    Abas and his fellow commanders were ordered to read the fatwa to their men and make sure they carried it out. The others obeyed, but Abas refused. It was his moment of truth. He firmly believed that jihad was to be fought only on the battlefield in defense of Islam; he had always been taught that the killing of civilians had nothing to do with holy war and that it was forbidden.

    The fatwa justified killing non-Muslim civilians everywhere.
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/60minutes/main2761108.shtml?source=RSSattr=60Minutes_2761108
    Reply to this comment
    by wfbdem May 16, 2007 4:15 PM EDT
    The U.S. military WILL accomplish the mission unless the LIBS SURRENDER!
    Posted by mbcsmith at 10:22 AM : May 16, 2007


    Why do neocons hate our troops?
    Reply to this comment
    by lars008-2009 May 16, 2007 4:04 PM EDT
    Appeal for Redress
    Sign this Appeal.
    This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
    An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
    It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.
    The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:
    As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
    If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
    Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.
    This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress.
    http://www.appealforcourage.org/
    Reply to this comment
    by jdubs63 May 16, 2007 3:18 PM EDT
    Well said Iceman...thanks
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 May 16, 2007 1:32 PM EDT
    We should give the Iraqi government a reasonable deadline to handle the insurgency without U.S. troops, then withdraw.

    The deadline should be determined by Americans. If it's left up to the vacationing Iraqi lawmakers, it will be set at 10 minutes after Never.

    Benchmarks without hard deadlines, enforcement and penalties, are useless, as any high school teacher will confirm.

    If the Iraqi government folds after that, it will be them doing the surrendering, not Americans. The dishonor will be all theirs.
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 May 16, 2007 1:27 PM EDT
    "The U.S. military WILL accomplish the mission unless the LIBS SURRENDER!"
    - Posted by mbcsmith at 10:22 AM : May 16, 2007

    The mission is for Iraqis themselves to accomplish.

    Gates says the Surge is just "a strategy to buy time" for the Iraqis to build consensus.

    There is no military solution in Iraq, and according to Petraeus, those who claim otherwise are ignorant of history.
    Reply to this comment
    by mbcsmith May 16, 2007 1:22 PM EDT
    The U.S. military WILL accomplish the mission unless the LIBS SURRENDER!
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 May 16, 2007 1:12 PM EDT
    You can't blame the Iraqi lawmakers for going on vacation.

    The surfing at Iraqi beaches at this time of year is awesome.
    Reply to this comment
    by iceman_1960 May 16, 2007 1:09 PM EDT
    "At least nine apparent mortar rounds slammed into the U.S.-controlled Green Zone on Wednesday, wounding at least six people, the second such attack in as many days, an official said."

    Gotta watch out for those apparent mortar rounds.

    They feel like the real thing when they hit you.

    [Dog Cheney should get a medal for risking his life in the Green Zone.]
    Reply to this comment
    by rsoxfan1123 May 16, 2007 12:54 PM EDT
    Maybe they're planning on going on vacation and not coming back. I know I'd be tempted.
    Reply to this comment
    by patriotic9 May 16, 2007 12:51 PM EDT
    Why shouldn't we use Shia-Sunni conflict for our own interest?
    It's not a difficult thing at all period!!!!
    Reply to this comment
    by rsoxfan1123 May 16, 2007 12:37 PM EDT
    Maybe they're planning on going on vacation and not coming back. I know I'd be tempted.
    Reply to this comment
    by omega39-2009 May 16, 2007 12:23 PM EDT
    Who cares about a 2 month vacation, they have had 3 years to do something and haven't, it unlikely that the 2 months in question is going to yield anything different.
    Reply to this comment
    by missmyhubby May 16, 2007 12:17 PM EDT
    Wow! The surge is really working....bring our troops home!!!!!!!
    Reply to this comment
    by pussylib May 16, 2007 11:34 AM EDT
    So again how can the thought of a 2 month vacation be on the minds of the Iraqi government? The real eye opener is that it makes it look like they are not serious and clearly points out they don't see things the way we do or think like we do!
    Posted by tbweb

    Well I dont agree with that T our congress always takes every day off it can get regardless of whats happening seems their politicians are just like ours.

    Other than the fact that our politicians choip peoples heads off behind closed doors.
    Reply to this comment
    See all 21 Comments
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