Suicide Truck Bomber Strikes Iraqi Police

Clashes Reported As U.S. Military Helicopter Flares Spark Fiery War Of Words

(CBS/AP)  A suicide truck bomber struck an Iraqi police agency in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least seven people and wounding 50, police said, while hundreds marched in the streets as a funeral was held for four people reportedly killed in overnight clashes in a predominantly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad.

Iraqi police in the area said fighting in the predominantly Shiite Fidhiliyah area on the Baghdad's outskirts broke out after a U.S. military convoy came under attack following a raid on the local offices of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric whose Mahdi Army militia has recently stepped up attacks on American troops.

The U.S. military said an American patrol came under fire late Friday from small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from the al-Sadr office and called for air and ground support. Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said no Americans were killed or wounded, but he did not have immediate information on Iraqi casualties. "We're still looking into the incident," he said.

Associated Press Television video footage shot early Sunday showed a low-flying Apache helicopter firing flares as several hundred people, including teenagers and children, were gathered around a smoldering Humvee below.

Residents said a fire broke out in a residential house from a pile of straw used by local residents to feed animals, after U.S. helicopters dropped flares in the area.

A local resident told AP Television that U.S. troops had come on Sunday to "haul their damaged humvee out of the area."

"The damaged humvee was opposite to our house, so their aircraft shelled the house. They towed their humvee and fled," the resident said.

AP Television video footage shot on Sunday showed firemen tending to a fire at the scene.

Garver said the flares were fired automatically as part of a self-defense system for the helicopter. He said the flares, which are designed to divert heat-seeking missiles and other anti-aircraft weapons, usually burn out before they hit the ground but these were still burning because the helicopter was flying at such a low altitude.

"Those are not launched by the crew," he said. "When the helicopter receives a signal that it is being targeted by a radar, it launches those flares in self-defense against a perceived threat."

Police and witnesses said those killed and wounded in the fighting were Iraqis — they included bystanders caught in the crossfire, but did not know how many were al-Sadr loyalists.

U.S. troops stormed the al-Sadr offices and detained seven men, they said.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Hilfi, an al-Sadr representative from the office, said the clashes broke out late Friday after a raid on the office, which doubles as a mosque.

He said seven people were killed and 21 wounded, while local police officials put the casualty figure at five killed and 19 wounded. The officials said those killed were Iraqis and included bystanders caught in the crossfire, while 16 other men were detained.

Hundreds of men chanted as they carried the wooden coffins draped in Iraqi flags of four of the people reportedly killed in the melee.

Al-Hilfi accused the Americans of using the flares from the helicopters to disperse the crowd so they could recover the remains of the charred Humvee.

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia fought U.S. forces for much of 2004. More recently, the U.S. military has repeatedly blamed the militia for the death of American soldiers in deadly roadside bombs it says are provided by Iran.

The explosion in Tikrit, which occurred about 10:30 a.m., devastated a building housing the highway police directorate in the Albu Ajil village on the eastern outskirts of ousted leader Saddam Hussein's hometown, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. Tikrit is 80 miles north of Baghdad.

The attacker detonated his payload after smashing into a blast wall, flattening a small reception building and causing heavy damage to the main two-story building just 20 yards away, the officer said, adding that most of the seven killed and 50 wounded were police.

[daoud_a]

America other war

It donned on me after reading about the war in Iraq that what is happening there it%u2019s systematic and organize approach of destruction to that country lade by the USA
And it%u2019s so called allays (allays of destruction).
Every one of those allay have his one agenda, there willing to do what the US asks of them as loge the US give them a free hand in Iraq. And the white house is no hurry to stop the killing, for one simple reason that is if the killing stops every one will start to look for rebuilding of Iraq and will start to looking for money from oil. Than every one will see the facts of this war it%u2019s not abut freeing Iraqis from a dictator or preventing Iraq regime from owning biological or comical weapons it%u2019s about oil and money louts of money Bush and Chaney is the ultimate beneficiary of this war and the money it%u2019s generating. So why stop the war? Who will benefit from that? The Iraqi people!!!!!!

[bluestardad]

TAKE BACK U.S. GOVERNMENT FROM THE ISRAELI LOBBIES!

It is not anti Semitic to believe there are millions of other good people in the Middle East with valid concerns!

Even Eisenhower had problems with Israeli groups READ BELOW but he did not let them buy him!

READ AS THEY BRAG ABOUT THEIR INFLUENCE ON OUR GOVERNMENT!
http://www.aipac.org/forms/
join_aipacClubs.htm


Founded in 1953 by Isaiah L. "Si" Kenen, AIPAC's original name was the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs. According to UCLA political science professor and author, Steven Spiegel, "the tension between the Eisenhower administration and Israeli supporters was so acute that there were rumors that the administration would investigate the American Zionist Council. Therefore, an independent lobbying committee was formed, which years later was renamed [AIPAC]." Today, AIPAC has over 100,000 members.[1] Activities and stated goals
AIPAC's stated purpose is to lobby the Congress of the United States on issues and legislation "to ensure that the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong so that both countries can work together" to meet the challenges of "stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.[2] It regularly meets with members of Congress where it can share its views. AIPAC has been effective in gaining support for Israel among members of Congress and White House administrations.
The New York Times described AIPAC on July 6, 1987 as "a major force in shaping United States policy in the Middle East."