BAGHDAD, Feb. 10, 2008
Series Of Iraq Attacks Mark Bloody Sunday
Bombs Kills Dozens Of Civilians, As Insurgents Battle U.S.-Allied Fighters And Iraqi Forces
-
Photo
A newly-redesigned Iraqi flag, in which elements reminiscent of the Saddam Hussein regime were removed or altered in order to promote unity within the war-torn country, was raised outside the Kurdish parliament in Irbil, Iraq on Feb. 10, 2008. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people demonstrated in Baghdad, chanting pro-Sunni and anti-American slogans and unfurling an Iraqi flag dating back to Saddam's rule. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)
-
Photo Essay
Week In Iraq Photos
A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
The violence was among a series of attacks in northern Iraq.
The military said U.S. and Iraqi forces had secured the area and the wounded had been evacuated to hospitals.
Iraqi police said earlier that a suicide car bomber targeted U.S.-allied fighters and Iraqi security forces at a checkpoint in Yathrib, near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Police and members of an anti-al Qaeda group opened fire as the attacker sped toward a joint checkpoint, but he managed to detonate his explosives near some shops about 20 yards away, according to police at the Salahuddin provincial coordination center. Police said eight civilians were killed and 20 wounded.
The differing casualty figures and details could not immediately be reconciled.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police said four civilians were killed Sunday when a tanker truck exploded near an Iraqi Army checkpoint south of Mosul.
In an attempt to avert a suicide attack, Iraqi soldiers opened fire on the tanker about 30 yards from their post, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. The tanker exploded, killing four civilians and damaging six cars nearby, he said.
The blast also damaged a gas station near the checkpoint on the outskirts of Mosul, which lies 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
The explosions came hours after suspected al Qaeda-linked insurgents stormed two villages in northwestern Iraq but were repelled by U.S.-allied fighters and Iraqi security forces in clashes that left at least 22 people dead, according to Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, a Sunni lawmaker and the head of the anti-al Qaeda group in Mosul.
The attack began about 5 a.m. when about 25 carloads of heavily armed gunmen, drove into the villages of Khams Tlol (Five Hills) and al-Madina, about 50 miles west of Mosul, said Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, a Sunni lawmaker and the head of the anti-al Qaeda group in Mosul.
He said villagers fought back against the militants, who were wielding rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and assault rifles, prompting clashes that lasted about five hours.
An Iraqi army officer in Mosul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, confirmed the attack and said the fighting ended after Iraqi soldiers joined the battle.
The 22 killed included 10 militants and six members of the so-called awakening group in the area, as well as four women and two children, the officials said, adding that 10 civilians were wounded in the clashes.
The U.S. military in northern Iraq confirmed that an attack on compound housing its Sunni allies against al Qaeda in Iraq near Sinjar killed five U.S.-allied fighters dead and five wounded. It said 10 insurgents were killed.
Insurgents also attacked a group of civilians elsewhere in the northern Ninevah province on Sunday, killing two men and one child and wounding two other men, two women and two infants, according to the military.
Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, the provincial capital of Ninevah is believed to be the last major urban stronghold for al Qaeda in Iraq after many insurgents were driven north by U.S.-led offensives in Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised a "decisive battle" against the terror network there but given no start date. The U.S. military has warned it will not be a swift strike, but rather a grinding campaign that will require more firepower.
An al Qaeda front group for northern Iraq warned last week in an Internet statement that it was launching its own campaign in Mosul and surrounding areas and urged volunteers to join them to carry out suicide attacks on U.S. troops, Iraqi Shiites and the Kurdish peshmerga troops.
Meanwhile, two Iraqi Army officers were severely wounded in a drive-by shooting as they drove to work through western Baghdad, police said.
Gunmen opened fire on the officers' car in the predominantly Sunni Yarmouk neighborhood around 9 a.m., another officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Brig. Mohammed Bassem Abdul-Ridha and Col. Firqad Salman Alwan - who work at the Defense Ministry's General Inspector Office - were both severely injured, he said.
Sen. Ensign: We Shouldn’t Leave Iraq Soon
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., rejected calls Saturday for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq by the end of the year, saying the decision should be based on "conditions on the ground and not on politics."
Speaking to reporters by conference call from Baghdad, Ensign said he now has "much more optimism" about the war in Iraq because of improved security following last year's increase in American troops.
His comments came amid a weekend tour of Iraq with Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina. The contingent met Saturday with top Iraqi leaders, as well as with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
The visit came two days after Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said he's preparing legislation that would give President Bush the war funding he wants this year, but on the condition that troops leave Iraq by the end of the year.
Quote
Ensign said "it's impossible to say" how long American troops will remain in Iraq, but Iraqi leaders warned the contingent that a pullout "too soon" would embolden Iran and al Qaeda.I strongly believe the American policy in Iraq should be to ensure a stable Iraq ... able to defend itself not only from within but from without. If we leave now, Iran will over-run it.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev."It should be based on conditions on the ground and not on politics," he said. "I strongly believe the American policy in Iraq should be to ensure a stable Iraq ... able to defend itself not only from within but from without. If we leave now, Iran will over-run it."
Petraeus has said he did not want to see the remainder of U.S. forces cut back too quickly after the withdrawal of an extra 30,000 troops by summer - a move that would leave roughly 130,000 to 135,000 troops, the same number as before President Bush sent the reinforcements.
Petraeus is scheduled to report to the president and Congress in April on possible additional cutbacks and any recommended changes in strategy.
Ensign, a strong supporter of the Bush administration's war policy, said he saw progress firsthand Saturday when he visited a town south of Baghdad.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Video and Galleries from Iraq After Saddam
-
Photos
Iraq Photos: July 6?July 12
-
Photos
Iraq Photos: June 29-July 5
-
Photos
Iraq Photos: June 22 ? June 28
- Latest in Iraq After Saddam
- Bombs Claim 50 in Iraq
- Biden Meets with Key U.S. Leaders in Iraq
- Senate Investigates Blackwater Subsidiary
Either these Neocon morons are as stupid as dirt, not having realized this when they pushed to invade Iraq, or the plan is a permanent occupation of Iraq by U.S. forces.
Guess which?
There are weapons of destruction in Iraq.
We found the weapons of mass destructions, we found the laboratories.
We are in Iraq to form a democracy.
Wiretapping--were they given authority or not?
Just go to: http://www.bushlies.net/
And we''re supposed to believe the "surge" is working?
We have psychopaths running the USA!!
US troop deaths are starting to rise again.
Suicide bombings are rising again.
The surge isn''t working so well anymore.
They are NEVER going to live in democracy on their own.
The Neocon jacka/s/s/es that promote that there is some kind of WIN over there, are just promoting more war for the war profiteers!
There is no WIN to be had in Iraq!
. . of the United States of America
Year 1 of the Iraq war...."We''re winning."
Year 2 " " ...."We''re winning."
Year 3 " " ...."we''re winning."
Year 4 " " ...."We''re winning."
Year 5 " " ...."We''re winning."
Year 6 " " ...."we''re winning."
Only problem is this kind of "winning" means
destroying Iraqi families by bullets and
American families by murders, suicides,
divorces,and serious physical and
mental injuries.
This idiot saw progress when he visited a town in Baghdad under the escort of probably a huge amount of security and troops and claims he saw success?
What an idiot!
And this guy is running (ruining) our country
Cheney and Bu$h put our troops into a civil war.
There is no need to invade oil-rich countries to maintain an awareness of terrorists.
If the NeoCons hadn''t demolished WTC7 and blamed it on Iraq, seven of our troops would be alive Monday.
pray to jesus fu88king christ for bush and his war surge
But, I guess that''s why I have such a low opinion of them to start with.
So, for you mentally challenged folks trying to undermine our brave troop''s efforts with you spin on the situation, take a look here. http://tinyurl.com/32vmsl
While you are there, read the little factoid area on the top left.
Then why don''t you check out the number of US deaths here: http://icasualties.org/oif/
Note the huge downward trend in both cases.
Now, in case one of you wants to say that the surge was suppossed to do a whole host of things - like come up with an Iraqis constitution - just remember, our troops are NOT there to enforce the Iraq congress do their job, just to reduce the deaths so the congress CAN do their job.
From the time the US declared Independence until the time the Constitution became a reality was 11 years.
Constitutions DO NOT happen over night.
Posted by speakinup
Why are our troops there at all?
Weapons of mass destruction?--nope
Create democracy?---nope
Bring stability? ummmm we created the instability--sooo nope
Kill all the terrrrests?---nope
OIL??????????????? YESSIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Posted by speakinup at 08:07 PM : Feb 10, 2008
But they sure can be destroyed real quick!
I don''t care what kind of state it gives them. I"m more interested in stability in the region. Isn''t that what we are looking for ? Liberalme thinks we created the instability, and perhaps he''s right. But only the instability to a dictator.
Me thinks you and liberalme protests too much.
Liberalme - how have you been affected by our Constitution changing ? HAve you personally been affected at all ?
Ignoring oil agreements ? Yeah - guilty as charged. I think we should go to renewable energy - just a quickly as possible. And use shale oil until then.
Think of what would happen if we were to keep all that money in-country ?
Are you frustrated ?
Why are you dissing me ?
Sorry - but I''m going to state my opinions.
People and things do not upset us, rather we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us.
I''d like to say, get a grip - but that would just **** you off more.
Hope your night goes well too.
STOP THE TERROR IN IRAQ, BRING OUR TROOPS BACK.
Posted by shelley200
Oh? explain why a MAN posts with a WOMANS name ''Shelley'' and oh, you just happened to ''find'' that glorious web site by browsing I guess? all by yourself? and now you are SPAMMING us and this site for your dating service, is that about right?
---- IGNORE ALL WAR PLANNING AS BUSH & HIS GOP DID & LIE ABOUT IT ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/washington/11army.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by ilikecats1 at 11:54 PM : Feb 10, 2008
+ report abuse
This from a bootlicker who actually BELIEVED "mission accomplished"! ROFLMAO Yep that''s right folks when Bush make his "Landing" on the carrier way back when, this MORON was on here calling anyone who dared caution us about this VERY stupid statement, a Traitor or a "Liberal". ROFLMAO I''d say YOU are the LAST person on planet EARTH anyone should be listening to about Iraq! Now get your hood and sheet ready we''re going to salute the fuhrer and YOU know you want him to hear you! Ready? SIEG HEIL MEIN FUHRER! Good little nazi!! ROFLMAO
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by dumbshun at 09:46 PM : Feb 10, 2008
+ report abuse
ROFLMAO So another Kool Aid Drinker!! ROFLMAO How much Kool Aid did you drink Sparky?? ROFLMAO It was LIES you pathetic loser! Yep that''s right the WHOLE thing was a LIE... 935 of them to be exact! ROFLMAO Sieg Heil Bush!!
ONLY NOW THE INSURGENTS ARE SUPPLYING THE
"TATS" AMD BUSH, CONDI & COMPANY ARE
SUPPLYING THEIR . . . . . RESPONSES ?
Demolition of WTC7
Cheney running NORAD on 9/11
Lies to invade Iraq
Ashcroft Color Warning System during election run-up
Rumsfeld and torture
Wolfowitz
Halliburton
Renditi
on flights
Bu$h
Gates
Death of Gitmo ''dupes''
Just counting Republicon blessings.
OK, off to work to pay more taxes...
The surge cannot end...the surge allowed the Regime to keep up appearances in Iraq...the withdrawal of these forces would lead to disaster from a public relations and military perspective.
Troops Home Now!! Down with the Demopublican Regime!
-
by speakinup
February 11, 2008 10:38 PM EST
- Prinzowhales, WHEN the surge ends - are you willing to admit you were wrong on it not being able to end ?
-
Reply to this comment
-
See all 40 Comments