BAGHDAD, March 17, 2008
Bomb Kills 43 As Cheney, McCain Visit Iraq
Suicide Bomber Attacks Shiite Worshippers As VP, Presidential Hopeful Tout Security Gains
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Iraqis remove the dead from the scene of suicide bombing in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March, 17, 2008. A female suicide bomber attacked a group of Shiite worshippers near a mosque in Karbala on Monday. (AP Photo)
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U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is making his third vice presidential trip to Iraq, where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the U.S. death toll is nearing 4,000. (AP Photo/Ceerwan Aziz)
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In this handout photo released by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, left, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, talk at Baghdad airport Monday, March 17, 2008. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force)
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The blast was the deadliest in a series of attacks that left at least 72 Iraqis dead, including six youths killed when mortar rounds slammed into a soccer field in eastern Baghdad.
Two U.S. soldiers also were killed Monday in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad, bringing the American death toll closer to 4,000 as the U.S.-led war enters its sixth year. At least 3,990 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The violence marred overlapping trips by Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John McCain to Baghdad. Their visits were aimed at touting recent security gains and stressing Washington's long-term commitment to fighting insurgents in Iraq.
The U.S. Embassy and military issued a joint statement blaming al Qaeda in Iraq for the Karbala attack.
The bomber struck after the worshippers had gathered at a sacred historical site about half a mile from the golden domed shrine of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed in a seventh-century battle.
A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said the attacker was a woman - as did a witness.
The U.S. military described the attack as a suicide operation but put the casualty toll at 40 Iraqis killed and 65 wounded. The U.S. statement said the identity of the bomber remained unknown.
Brig. Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat, Karbala's police chief, said 43 people were killed and 73 wounded. He denied it was a suicide attack, saying a bomb had been planted in the area. The discrepancies could not immediately be resolved.
Karim Khazim, the city's chief health official, said seven of those killed were Iranian pilgrims who had traveled to the holy site.
AP Television News footage showed a man carefully picking up pieces of flesh and wires apparently from a fuse as evening prayer services were broadcast from loudspeakers nearby.
The witness, who did not identify himself, told AP Television News that a woman in the crowd had blown herself up.
If true, it would be among the deadliest attacks carried out by women during the Iraq conflict.
Female suicide bombers have been involved in at least 20 attacks or attempted attacks since the war began, including the grisly bombings of two pet markets in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people last month.
The U.S. military has warned that insurgents are using female attackers because they can more easily avoid checkpoint searches and can hide the explosives under traditional all-encompassing black Islamic robes.
Police closed the area around the twin golden dome mosques and blocked all roads leading to the sites, which include tombs of Imam Hussein and his half brother, also a Shiite saint.
Ali Hassan, 30, a clothing merchant who was wounded in the blast, said he was standing near his stall "when I heard a big explosion and I felt strong fire throwing me in the air."
"The only thing I know is there was a big explosion and I saw bodies flying in the air," said Hassan Khazim, 36, who was wounded in the face. "All the tight security measures designed to protect us were in vain."
The predominantly Shiite city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, enjoys tight security. Monday's attack was the deadliest in Karbala since a suicide car bomber killed at least 63 people on April 28, 2007.
Explosions also struck earlier Monday not far from the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone, shortly after Cheney arrived. Helicopter gunships circled central Baghdad.
Despite several high-profile bombings, violence levels have dropped sharply in recent months with a U.S. troop buildup, a Sunni revolt against al Qaeda in Iraq and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
But noting the fragility of the security gains, Cheney warned against large drawdowns of American troops, saying it is very important that "we not quit before the job is done."
Cheney said there was no question but there had been a dramatic improvement in security - but not dramatic enough to allow Cheney's office to make his exact plans public, reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.
Logan reports the primary focus of Cheney's visit will be to push Iraqi officials to unite across the bitter Shiite-Sunni sectarian divide which has largely crippled the government's efficacy, as he's concerned the political landscape is not improving at the same pace as the security situation.
McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who has linked his political future to military success in Iraq, also promised to uphold a long-term military commitment to the country so long as al Qaeda in Iraq is not defeated.
Both men met in back-to-back meetings with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose government has been accused of failing to make sufficient political progress.
Al-Maliki said he and the vice president discussed ongoing negotiations over a long-term security agreement between the two countries that would replace the U.N. mandate for foreign troops set to expire at the end of the year.
"This visit is very important. It is about the nature of the relations between the two countries, the future of those relations and the agreement in this respect," the prime minister told reporters. "We also discussed the security in Iraq, the development of the economy and reconstruction and terrorism."
McCain stressed it was important to maintain the U.S. commitment in Iraq, where a U.S.-Iraq operation is under way to clear al Qaeda in Iraq from what the military says is the terror group's last urban stronghold of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"We recognize that al Qaeda is on the run, but they are not defeated," McCain said after meeting al-Maliki. "Al Qaeda continues to pose a great threat to the security and very existence of Iraq as a democracy. So we know there's still a lot more of work to be done."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq on Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., speaking to reporters from Kuwait after a visit to Iraq, said Iraq should begin picking up more of the bills.
"We're paying for things that Iraqis clearly should be paying for," Levin said. "They have the capability, the surplus funds to do their own reconstruction, and to do their own weapons purchases and other things which we're paying for and they need to pay for."
In other developments:
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Add a Comment See all 461 Comments
- Guess the comments are down for the lead story about "MOST AMERICANS DON''''T THINK THIS IRAQ WAR IS WORTH IT."
So I will post here!
Actually, CBS has apparently decided for our own good that there will be limited access to post comments on any new articles concerning the war. CBS is not as much a supporter of free expression as they''d like you to think. - Reply to this comment
- Guess the comments are down for the lead story about "MOST AMERICANS DON''T THINK THIS IRAQ WAR IS WORTH IT."
So I will post here!
This invasion and occupation, based on cherry-picked information, has taught us alot about High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Josef Goebbels (FAUX news), the job options of the non-Elite, and fascism (corporatism).
Have those PSA''s been signed yet? ***? - Reply to this comment
- NO THANKS to the BUSH REGIME enablers who by their actions of volunteering have directly caused all of this, 4,000 brought their own demise by doing so- enabling the bush regime to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, no WMD and no AlQuada because Sadumb hated them and kept them OUT.
Thanks to you all, we are throwing $14 billion down a toilet of a country that hates our guts, whose leaders took a summer vacation last year while our people sweated out the desert heat.
Far as I''m concerned the bunch of you Bush enablers can STAY OVER THERE! - Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:03 AM : Mar 18, 2008
We heard your STUPID comment the first time you moron. Were the repeats suppose to mean something? Only 308 days left!Enjoy! Ha!Ha!Ha! - Reply to this comment
- AntiZion ..JIHADIST SYMPATHIZER AND A TERRORIST SUPPORTER!!
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- the surge is working! the surge is working! mission accomplished! 55% of Iraqis feel things are OK. these false and misleading headlines are bunk. give cheney a rifle and throw him out on patrol. in fact why isn''t georgie boy with him? oh he''s back here managing the financial crisis that the war has caused in part. i feel so comfortable knowing our leaders are out there looking out for the good of all americans.
- Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:03 AM : Mar 18, 2008
Yes - Thank you for your service but you are being used...
Petraeus: "I don%u2019t know" if Iraq war makes America safer.
At the Senate Armed Services hearing on progress in Iraq today, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) asked Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, "if we continue what you have laid before the Congress, this strategy, that if you continue, you are making America safer?" "Sir, I don%u2019t know actually," replied Petraeus, adding that he is solely focused on the mission in Iraq. - Reply to this comment
- Dear moron,
Here is a headline from today:
FBI presence in bombed Pakistan diner adds to murk
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=89792
Now why did all these FBI agents just happen to be there? Did the bomb they were planting go off prematurely?
My point stands firm. - Reply to this comment
- Who are the real terrorists? Only a moron can''''''''t see the truth Posted by AntiZion ....A JIHADIST SYMPATHIZER...
Posted by underdogus at 10:00 AM : Mar 18, 2008
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Dear Moron,
You can''t even spell the word can''t and your sentence contradicts itself. Thank you for making my point though.
Perhaps if you had more than a brain stem to work with, you would know more and believe less. - Reply to this comment
- Who are the real terrorists? Only a moron can''''t see the truth Posted by AntiZion ....A JIHADIST SYMPATHIZER...
- Reply to this comment
- No matter how many troops we have deployed in Iraq, the carnage will continue. It is aided and abetted by rich Muslims, particularly Saudis, who benefit by keeping a permanent underclass with limited or no education who can be manipulated with propoganda and cash payments to families of the "martyrs". The only thing that will stop the violence is the will of the people of Iraq and surrounding countries. The presence of American troops creates a convenient focus and justification for the terrorism.
- Reply to this comment
- My friends...we must elect a canidate that will try to put this occupation to an end regardless of how or why we got in. If McCain gets elected....be prepared for 4 more years of occupation, many US deaths and $billions gone. Please NO MORE BUSH POLICY!
- Reply to this comment
- The US, British and Israel all practice the same trick and have been caught red handed over and over.
EXAMPLE - They pull over an Iraqi driver and while he is being questioned, they load the trunk of his car with explosives. They then tell him his drivers license was turned over to local police and to go quickly as the police commanders shift ends soon.
He drives up to the police station and the car is remotely detonated from a helicopter.
Remember the British soldiers that were caught dressed up as arabs with a car load of explosives and AK-47''s? When the US smashed a tank into the jail to free them the people poured out and burned the tanks?
Remember the Jewish synagog in Pakistan that two Israeli Mossad agents pulled up in front of and walked away just before the car exploded? Two dead arabs found in the car?
And of course, someone always calls and "claims responsibility".
Who are the real terrorists? Only a moron can''t see the truth and only a paid shill for Israel makes these stupid comments here about "terrorists." - Reply to this comment
- My friends...we must elect a canidate that will try to put this occupation to an end regardless of how or why we got in. If McCain gets elected....be prepared for 4 more years of occupation, many US deaths and $billions gone. Please NO MORE BUSH POLICY!
- Reply to this comment
MCBU$H
and
DlCK CHENEY
Together at last.- Reply to this comment
- This story is about the savagery of radical Islam, a FEMALE suicide bomber kills dozens of innocent civilians while WORSHIPING! HELLO! Wake up people this story is not about Bush and Cheney. How can an intelligent person twist blame as most do here at leftwing central day in and day out while ignoring this unimaginable act of evil??????????
- Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
- Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
- Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
- Reply to this comment
- THANK YOU TO ALL THE BRAVE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO SACRIFICE SO THAT WE MAY LIVE IN PEACE AND FREEDOM.
- Reply to this comment
The road ahead in Afghanistan, and the crucial decision Obama faces.
