BAGHDAD, July 25, 2007
Bombs Kill Celebrating Iraqi Soccer Fans
Baghdad Attacks Kill At Least 50, Wound 100, After National Team's Big Win In Asia Cup
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Play CBS Video Video Security In Iraq President Bush says terrorism is linked directly to Iraq. Ret. Army Col. and Up to the Minute Military Analyst Mitch Mitchell discusses the war and the President's comments.
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Video Bush Defends Iraq Strategies CBS News RAW: At a press conference, President Bush restated his positions on the insurgency in Iraq, as he argued that al Qaeda is still a prominent threat in that country.
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Iraqis celebrate in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, on July 25, 2007, after the country's national soccer team beat South Korea in the Asian Cup to reach the tournament's final. (AP)
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Iraqi soccer fans celebrate in the streets of Sadr City in Baghdad on July 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Iraq's Vice President and a member of the Iraqi Accordance Front Party Tareq Al-Hashemi, right, and Khalif Alyan, left, appear at a news conference in Baghdad on July 25, 2007. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud/Pool)
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Ryan Crocker, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, is seen taking part in a meeting with senior Iranian diplomats in Baghdad in this July 24, 2007, image taken from Iraqi state television. (CBS/Al-Iraqiya TV)
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Men look through a shattered windshield in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad on July 25, 2007, after clashes between suspected militiamen and a joint U.S.-Iraqi force backed by helicopter gunships. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Photo Essay Iraq In Pictures A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
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Timeline The U.S. And Iran Key events in once friendly, now contentious relationship between Washington and Tehran.
Meanwhile, Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc said Wednesday it had suspended membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government, a fresh setback to the Shiite leader's efforts at national reconciliation.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet seats and 44 of 275 in Parliament, gave al-Maliki a week to meet its demands or see its six members officially quit the 14-month-old Cabinet.
"The Accordance Front announces the suspension of its membership in the government," Sheik Khalaf al-Elyan said at a news conference attended by the two other leaders of the three-party Accordance Front — Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of the Iraqi Islamic Party and Adnan al-Dulaimi of the Congress of the People of Iraq. Al-Elyan leads the National Dialogue Council.
The Sunni ministers already were boycotting Cabinet meetings but said Wednesday they won't even go to their offices. The Accordance Front cabinet ministers include the deputy prime minister for security as well as the ministers of planning, higher education, culture, defense and the minister of state for women's affairs.
The threat was the latest in a series of boycotts by minority Sunnis and followers of a radical Shiite cleric, which have left al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government increasingly fragile even as pressure mounts in Washington on him to shepherd through a series of political benchmarks ahead of a key U.S. report to Congress in September.
Sunni legislators and Sadrists lifted a separate boycott of Parliament last week in an apparent bid to ensure they would retain influence in the debate over power-sharing bills before an August legislative vacation.
If the Sunni bloc quits, al-Maliki's Cabinet would limp along with about a third of its seats vacant and without its billing as a "national unity" government. But the day-to-day business of the affected ministries was unlikely to be disrupted.
Al-Sadr's loyalists quit the government in April to protest what they said was its failure to declare a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Those five ministries are being run by top civil servants.
Al-Maliki had no immediate comment on Wednesday's development, which also threatened to undermine weeks of behind-the-scene negotiations to form a coalition of moderate parties from all sects — dubbed "the alliance of moderates." So far only two Shiite and two Kurdish parties have signed up and they had been urging al-Hashemi's moderate Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Arab group, and independent Shiites to join them.
Wednesday's decision by the Accordance Front signaled that al-Hashemi had opted not to abandon his Sunni allies for the sake of joining the new group, which was to exclude al-Hashemi's militant Sunni partners as well as the Shiite Sadrists.
In remarks during the press conference, however, al-Hashemi left open the possibility of joining the new alliance under an unequivocal pledge of "goodwill" for the Front.
"There are no encouraging indications so far," al-Hashemi said, adding he had informed President Jalal Talabani of the Accordance Front's decision to suspend its Cabinet membership on Tuesday.
A statement by Talabani's office suggested that the Kurdish president had sought to dissuade al-Hashemi from breaking with al-Maliki's government.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 156 Comments
- Take that s-Temper posted by mcvet I think you covered it mc vet.
- Reply to this comment
- How are some of you able to make comparisons to the III reich and hitler to the Bush administration?
Many of you have an amazing ability to plaster a "TRUTH" label to just any crazy or silly idea.
I also have to point out, that many of you are NOT able to stick to one idea for any significant amount of time before you make a contradiction.
In short, you make for great entertainment. - Reply to this comment
- After reading some of the insane, anti-American and anti-Bush posts on CBSnews.com, I am positive a lot of these posts are coming from Iran, North Korea, Syria, and other places hostile to the US. I would like to see the CBS IT Administrator logs with IP addresses. I guarantee these people are not Americans. I'm going to start collecting their IDs.
Posted by S_Temper at 03:01 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Oh PLEASE! You pathetic Nazi, you aren't going to do ANYTHING! You don't have to read anything posted... no one is forcing you to do that or to listen to what people are writting. You do NOT respond to the post or the points raise but instead do want Fascist always do, attack your neighbors and fellow citizens. I've been on these boards for a long time now and know most of these people on here. You act like a spoiled child with your MY PARTY is superior attitude. It is NOT nor is your fuhrer, Bush. Sieg Heil!! - Reply to this comment
- Iceman_1960
you cant do anything good to these people, because they're so brainwashed with the "heroic american soldiers" theme. just leave it. Until November 08 - Reply to this comment
- Iceman_1960
you cant do anything good to these people, because they're so brainwashed with the "heroic american soldiers" theme. just leave it. Until November 08 - Reply to this comment
- Iceman_1960
you cant do anything good to these people, because they're so brainwashed with the "heroic american soldiers" theme. just leave it. Until November 08 - Reply to this comment
- S_Temper imagines that he's anonymous on this forum, that he can make wild and irresponsible threats against other posters.
Everyone who posts here, had to register a real email address. Even if it's a so-called "throwaway" address, it forms a series of links right back to their real life identity.
No one is anonymous here. - Reply to this comment
- "I would like to see the CBS IT Administrator logs with IP addresses. I guarantee these people are not Americans. I'm going to start collecting their IDs."
- Posted by S_Temper at 03:01 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Temper temper there, S_Temper.
Any attempt at vigilante stalking on your part could have the most dire consequences for you personally.
You could get a chance to tell the Black Muslims in Leavenworth Penitentiary just how little you think of them.
People have actually gone to prison for this sort of thing. - Reply to this comment
- "omega39, bathtubs didn't kill 2,973 people on 9-11-2001."
- Posted by S_Temper at 02:46 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Neither did Iraq.
George W. Bush has caused the deaths of 3,640 American servicemen in Iraq.
And people like you have aided and abetted him, by conflating Iraq with 9/11. - Reply to this comment
- "I know you use taqiya (deception) and are trying to keep the lid on the truth about Islam until muslims are strong enough to take over-but you'll never be able to stop people from learning the truth about your death cult."
- Posted by ban_islam at 01:02 AM : Jul 26, 2007
We all feel your pain, ban_islam, at the abuse your people have suffered under Islam.
We agree that this situation is intolerable, from a human rights perspective.
What a death cult !
"Homosexuality is a legal crime and forbidden in most of Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. Same-*** intercourse officially carries the death penalty in several Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen... The legal situation in the United Arab Emirates is unclear. In many Muslim nations, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria and the Maldives, homosexuality is punished with jail time, fines, or corporal punishment... In Egypt openly gay men have been prosecuted under general public morality laws... In Saudi Arabia, the maximum punishment for homosexuality is public execution, but the government will use other punishm... Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, the Iranian government has executed more than 4000 people charged with homosexual acts. In Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban homosexuality went from a capital crime to one that it punished with fines and prison sentence."
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_Islam - Reply to this comment
- "After reading some of the insane, anti-American and anti-Bush posts on CBSnews.com..."
- Posted by S_Temper at 03:01 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Don't dare to equate "anti-American" with "anti-Bush"
Don't you dare do that.
Bush is the greatest traitor America has seen in modern times. He has caused the deaths of thousands of American servicemen in Iraq to save his sorry a*ss from a loss of face.
Maybe you don't know that, drinking your German beer in Argentina, but the American people know it. - Reply to this comment
- "test"
- Posted by ban_islam at 01:23 AM : Jul 26, 2007
You flunked, j*erkoff. - Reply to this comment
- Don't sit there. Let's ROLL
Posted by Hamiltongrad at 12:23 AM : Jul 26, 2007
I take offense to your statement, who is going to roll? You?
Been there three times (Baghdad) I have rolled (Rolled the dice too much) Iraq as much as I hate, HATE to admit it, we are as one senator said: "Pasting feathers together hoping for a duck." We DO owe it to the region to see that the mess we created does not spread, and does not completely destabilize the region. - Reply to this comment
- Hamiltongrad,
Re: "As a Professor of American History, I know something about histroical trends."
You have failed miserably to demonstrate this. Your students should be entitled to double their money back, as well as pain and suffering damages. - Reply to this comment
Air Force Times survey:
#Troop surge in Iraq#
The White House and Congress have debated whether the president's Iraq strategy -- sending a surge of U.S. troops to quell the violence in Baghdad, starting this past spring -- is an effective one. How much time should the surge strategy be given before the government assesses how well it's working?
- Until September 15.77%
- Until November 9.49%
- Until next spring 17.05%
- It's clear now that it's working 23.99%
- It's clear now that it's not working 33.70%
www.airforcetimes.com/index.php- Reply to this comment
- ***Even*** ***in*** ***the*** ***face*** ***of*** ***people*** ***getting*** ***their*** ***heads*** ***cut*** ***off***, ***or*** ***this***, ***Our*** ***culture*** ***can*** ***not*** ***see*** ***the*** ***truth***. ***Overall***, ***WE*** ***had*** ***better*** ***get*** ***our*** ***minds*** ***straight***, ***and*** ***FIGHT*** ***THIS*** ***WAR*** ***LIKE*** ***WWII*** ***ALL*** ***OUT*** !
***Don***'***t*** ***sit*** ***there***. ***Let***'***s*** ***ROLL*** ***Posted*** ***by*** ***Hamiltongrad***
----
***Quite*** ***right***-***complaceny*** ***and*** ***ignorance*** ***are*** ***rampant*** ***and*** ***as*** ***always*** ***the*** ***cowardly*** ***left*** ***has*** ***their*** ***head*** ***firmly*** ***buried*** ***in*** ***the*** ***sand***-***ready*** ***to*** ***be*** ***chopped*** ***off***. ***Sadly*** ***I*** ***think*** ***it*** ***will*** ***take*** ***a*** ***couple*** ***more*** ***9***/***11*** ***type*** ***events*** ***to*** ***wake*** ***people*** ***up***.
***I*** ***mean*** ***many*** ***are*** ***getting*** ***the*** ***message*** ***about*** ***Islam***, ***roughly*** ***50***% ***of*** ***the*** ***population*** ***realize*** ***we*** ***have*** ***a*** ***serious*** ***problem*** ***here***, ***but*** ***the*** ***others*** ***are*** ***slow*** ***to*** ***catch*** ***on***. ***Its*** ***certainly*** ***mirrored*** ***in*** ***the*** ***division*** ***of*** ***Congress***-***but*** ***slowly*** ***people*** ***are*** ***learning*** ***the*** ***world***'***s*** ***problems*** ***are*** ***not*** ***all*** ***Bush***/***Cheney***'***s*** ***fault***-***in*** ***fact*** ***we*** ***have*** ***real*** ***enemies*** ***who*** ***want*** ***to*** ***destroy*** ***us*** ***and*** ***who*** ***we***'***re*** ***at*** ***war*** ***with*** ***and*** ***they***'***re*** ***called*** ***muslims***. - Reply to this comment
- [Muslems in America are the engineers who build our bridges, buildings & schools..By the way, I'm not Muslem Posted by j-whitman]
Funny you say that since Osama bin Laden says the same thing:
'muslims are peaceful
death to America
and by the way
I'm not a muslim' haha
I really couldn't give a *** what jobs muslims do-what concerns me and should concern every single westerner is what muslims are doing in their mosques, their charities that support terroist groups, their organizations that work to silence criticism of Islam/muslims, their plotting of terrorist attacks in our countries and of course the anti-west, jihadist hate they spew in their mosques while feeding us lies and propaganda over muslims real intentions.
I take it you've seen the few videos I've put up. No words can quite compares to a simple 2 minute video showing muslims openly declaring their hatred for the West, their desire to destroy our countries and their intention to take over-in their own vile, menacing words.
I know you use taqiya (deception) and are trying to keep the lid on the truth about Islam until muslims are strong enough to take over-but you'll never be able to stop people from learning the truth about your death cult. Millions like me already know and those numbers are continuing to grow. Once the leftists finally wake up and stop living in ignorance and denial and unite with the right you'll see who's truly greater-us infidels or your imaginary demon-god Allah. - Reply to this comment
- ***Posted*** ***by*** ***Hamiltongrad*** ***at*** ***12***:***23*** ***AM*** : ***Jul*** ***26***, ***2007***
***I*** ***feel*** ***sorry*** ***for*** ***the*** ***students*** ***in*** ***your*** ***class*** ***if*** ***you***'***re*** ***as*** ***foaming*** ***at*** ***the*** ***mouth*** ***nuts*** ***there*** ***as*** ***you*** ***are*** ***here***. - Reply to this comment
- We brought them a chance for Democracy.
America is the most decent country on Earth !
As a Professor of American History, I know something about histroical trends. But this current era is one of the most dangerous. Not that we can not defeat such a weak enemy ( as compared to WWII) but because our institutions of learning and media have created a muddle headed populace that believes that IF we only talked to our evil enemy , sit around a table, we could get along and they would be "Nice." And , that all problems stem from some economic imbalance that is our fault.
Even in the face of people getting their heads cut off, or this, Our culture can not see the truth. Overall, WE had better get our minds straight, and FIGHT THIS WAR LIKE WWII ALL OUT !
Don't sit there. Let's ROLL - Reply to this comment
