BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007
Bombings Mark Gates' Visit To Iraq
At Least 25 Killed In Attacks; Defense Secretary Says Stable Iraq "Within Reach"
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, is introduced to soldiers by Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commanding general of Multi-National Division North, right, after arriving at Mosul Airfield in Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Pool)
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Iraqi policemen and U.S. soldiers inspect the area of a suicide car bomb attack in central Baqouba, some 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. The incident killed 5 civilians and wounded 20 others, police said. (AP Photo)
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U.S. soldiers with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry out of Ft. Lewis, Washington, traverse fields at sunrise on the way to conducting house to house searches, Dec. 3, 2007 in Mukhisa, Iraq. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
It was the deadliest of least four car bombs in Iraq on Wednesday that killed 25 people across the country. Earlier, a blast went off in the northern city of Mosul, where Gates had landed on his sixth trip to Iraq.
Gunfire and sirens followed the bombing in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood, and a plume of smoke rose in the sky.
Karradah has frequently been hit by car bombings, but attacks have tapered off in recent months. Cafes, shops and kebab stands have flourished anew in the neighborhood.
Firas Adel, who owns a clothing store about 400 yards from the site of the explosion, said terrified bystanders fled when the bomb went off.
"The police prevented us from getting to the site, but I saw the wounded screaming for help, including a teenage friend of mine who lost both his feet," Adel said. "There are people who want to end the security improvements and bring back chaos."
Police and hospital officials said at least 16 people were killed and 32 wounded in the explosion, which took place across the Tigris River from the Green Zone shortly before Gates' news conference with Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi.
"I believe that a secure, stable Iraq is within reach," Gates said, adding however: "We need to be patient."
He said that Iraqis who have been fighting al Qaeda and other military forces on the local level must be integrated into the formal Iraqi security forces.
Gates noted a decline in overall violence in Iraq during recent months, that has led to "a growing sense of normalcy and hope." But he acknowledged increasing militant and terrorist activities in northern Iraq.
Army Col. Tony Thomas, a brigade commander, said senior commanders in the north are looking for additional U.S. troops and also would like the return of 1,400 Iraqi troops sent to Baghdad to provide "more combat power" to help stabilize areas such as Diyala province, Mosul and Samara.
The U.S. is pressing Iraqi leaders to take advantage of the improved security to make the political reforms needed to stabilize the fledgling democracy.
The American military also announced the deaths of three soldiers from a "complex attack" on Tuesday involving a roadside bomb and small arms fire north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. A fourth soldier was wounded, it said.
At least 3,886 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians.
Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood has frequently been hit by car bombings, although attacks have tapered off in recent months with the influx of U.S. troops to the capital.
In the Mosul blast, police said explosives hidden in a parked car killed a civilian and wounded seven others across the city from the U.S. military base where Gates arrived.
The deadliest attack Wednesday was in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where a suicide car bomber targeted a bus station and killed five civilians, police said. At least 20 others were wounded.
In oil-rich Kirkuk, a parked car bomb killed three Kurdish soldiers in a convoy guarding a police chief traveling from Sulaimaniyah to the east, said police Brig. Anwar Qadir. At least 12 others were wounded - all members of the Kurdish peshmerga forces, he said.
Kirkuk is an ethnically mixed city near Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, about 180 miles north of Baghdad. The area has seen a spike in violence in recent months, which U.S. military officials attribute to the northward flow of militants after American offensives around Baghdad.
Wednesday's attacks - although far fewer in number than months ago - underscored the danger that persists in Iraq.
The Iraqi military credited neighborhood watch-style groups with tamping down violence in Baghdad, and said the number of volunteers in such groups would quadruple next year.
"The reason behind the drop is the good performance of Iraqi security forces, support from Baghdad residents and the backing of U.S. troops," said Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief Iraqi military spokesman.
He said the number of volunteers in the Baghdad area would rise to 45,000 next year. There are 12,000 residents involved in so-called "Awakening" groups, patrolling their own enclaves for signs of militants, al-Moussawi said.
Also Wednesday, Iraqi police officers demonstrated outside a station in eastern Baghdad, calling for the release of a colleague detained by U.S. forces.
Police said the man, Hassan Jawad, was arrested by American soldiers who stormed the Al-Khansaa police station at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the incident.
About two dozen policemen chanted and unfurled banners in front of the station reading "U.S. forces should leave Iraq" and "Free Hassan."
"Is it right for a police station to be assaulted like this? We represent the country's authority, and taking one of us without reasons is wrong," said one of the protesters, who refused to give his name out of security concerns.
"This behavior makes us feel that we have no immunity - that U.S. soldiers can come another day to take any one of us," he said. "This is illegal and violates the country's sovereignty."
U.S. soldiers detained 10 suspected insurgents - some with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq - and captured weapons and propaganda materials, the military said.
One suspect thought to be involved in "terrorist media and propaganda operations" was detained in Baghdad, along with a "large amount" of propaganda materials, the military said.
In other developments:
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- cbville72 at 01:52 AM posted an impressive list of times and dates providing evidence of a case of cyber-stalking.
Please fella, get a life. Following the anonymous postings of somone so closely is surely a sign of some deep-seated sexual frustrations.
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:21 AM : Dec 06, 2007
Yep. Really scary. cbville appears to be the kind of person who could go off the deep end and end up having a "Cho" moment, shooting up a bunch of strangers at a mall or school and then leaving a note about himself....he does not seem to realize that more than the posts from j-whitman--his documenting and counting of them makes him look like he has no life but worse than that--he is so busy minding others business there is no doubt he is NOT taking care of his own. Anal, petty and yep. Scary as hell. - Reply to this comment
- This is how it goes: 1. Turmoil and mayhem in a city.
2. American troops move in and quell
3. US troops try to train Iraqis, but troops steal weapons and money and join factions in the gov.
4. Iraqi Gov. does not repair infrastructure, is not fair to all Iraqis
5. Bush and military claim victory and bringing peace to a city. Tout decline in violence
6. Insurgents find holes in US counterinsurgency. Exploit those and wait for troop level to die or get sloppy and a habit
7. Violence starts climbing again
8. The Iraqi gov. requests us to stay and claims to want us forever
9. The people help the insurgents who find new ways to kill them and to kill the occupiers
10. The body toll starts all over again and we realize that we never stopped the violence, we postponed it so the gov. could pretend to start working
11. The gov continues to steal money, build private armies and fight each other, but never reconcile or give us the elusive oil rights
12. Bush tells us it is great, he also buries the NIE reports
13. another Bush general retires and tells us that it all is really going to hell in a handbasket but he had to wait to come clean about it.
14. bush comes up with a new reason and method for staying. HE sends more in troops, spends more money, promises we will not face new taxes to pay for it
15. The dollar declines. There is more mayhem and turmoil in the city...Anyone that does not know this movie by now, has not been watching it. It is one giant rerun of a "D" movie. - Reply to this comment
- One positive sign of all the Progressive-Demoncrat hysterics and lying on these posts is, it''''s a sign of desparation and realizing by the Progressive-Demoncrats that they are losers and can''''t do anyhting about it but lie and whine.
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Posted by jowand at 05:44 AM : Dec 06, 2007
+ report abuse
ROFLMAO This from a Toe Tapper who actually BELIEVED that Rummy was a great Secretary of Defense and that we were winning in Iraq BEFORE the last elections. Yep that''s right folks Old Swastika Breath here was on here saying the same tired garbage about "Liberal''s", who told us that we needed a change in course in Iraq AND that we needed a new Secy of Defense. Care to explain THAT pathetic piece of GARBAGE you Bootlicker? Do you have ANY idea were we''d be if the American People DO NOT go to the polls and elect Democrats? Sieg Heil Bush! You really aren''t the sharpest knife in the old drawer are you now??? ROFLMAO - Reply to this comment
- Please fella, get a life. Following the anonymous postings of somone so closely is surely a sign of some deep-seated sexual frustrations.
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:21 AM : Dec 06, 2007
You should know. - Reply to this comment
- Have you see the PowerPoint Brief on "Success in Iraq"? Our contractors have really put together some flashy slides...
Regards,
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 05:30 AM : Dec 06, 2007
One positive sign of all the Progressive-Demoncrat hysterics and lying on these posts is, it''s a sign of desparation and realizing by the Progressive-Demoncrats that they are losers and can''t do anyhting about it but lie and whine. - Reply to this comment
- Cheney says now that by 2009 we will have peace in Iraq and that it was the right decision.
That''s because he doesn''t care a rat''s a*s*s about the COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND DEAD IRAQIs! These NeoCon murderous maniacs could care less about the cities in ruins or the 3,800 DEAD US TROOPS for that matter.
These SOBs will sweep all their ''Shock and Awe'' Death and Destruction under the rug and claim ''Victory'' after we''ve killed all the "insurgents" who are fighting against a foreign occupier. We are well known (by the rest of the world) for our support of dictators, our arming of death squads, our pilfering "privatization" of 3rd world nation natural resources, our support and instigation of coups...
Time to Throw our Mudering Barbarian Leaders in JAIL where they belong! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by j-whitman at 01:31 PM : Dec 05, 2007
Posted by j-whitman at 03:17 PM : Dec 05, 2007
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Posted by j-whitman at 08:54 PM : Dec 05, 2007
This is just a PARTIAL list of the entries from j-whitman on just THIS topic. It really goes a long way to prove he has nothing to do with his life. Half a day spent posting insane meandering party line drivel. Be sure to tune in again tomorrow when he''s at it again ALL DAY LONG along with his buddy FRMERUSMCTSGT.
Thank you all. - Reply to this comment
- What do you mean fake freedom? Only a terrorist would say that because terrorists hate freedom. We have REAL freedom, not fake freedom. Freedom Tower. Freedom Fries. Freedom Fighters. That''s us. Land of freedom. Of course, the US is the only country that has freedom and we have lots of it. In fact, we have so much freedom that all we want to do is share our freedom with countries like Iraq so they can live in freedom just like us. That''s all we want to do. We''re just freedom lovers after all.
- Reply to this comment
There is so much violence on a dialy basis in Iraq. Gates is making a bold statement...God Still Loves Us - eventhough the U.S. has intervened too much in Iraq.
http://www.godstilllovesus.org/- Reply to this comment
- Bushy_baby does not recognize Muqtada AlSadr as the leader in Iraq.
Posted by ToolMangler
He did when US troops handed Saddam over to Muqtada to be lynched... - Reply to this comment
