BAGHDAD, March 23, 2008
Dozens Dead In Wave Of Iraq Violence
Extremists Pound Green Zone With Rockets And Mortar Fire, As Suicide Attack Hits Mosul
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Photo
Men carry a coffin of a person killed in a rocket attack on the Khamaliya neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq, March 23, 2008. At least eight people were killed, three among them children, and seven were wounded in the attack. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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The latest violence underscored the fragile security situation and the resilience of both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups as the war enters its sixth year and the U.S. death toll in the conflict approaches 4,000.
Attacks in Baghdad probably stemmed from rising tensions between rival Shiite groups - some of whom may have been behind the Green Zone blasts. It was the most sustained assault in months against the nerve center of the U.S. mission.
The deadliest attack of the day was in Mosul when a suicide driver slammed his vehicle through a security checkpoint in a hail of gunfire and detonated his explosives in front of an Iraqi headquarters building, killing 13 Iraqi soldiers and injuring 42 other people, police said.
Iraqi guards opened fire on the vehicle but couldn't stop it because the windshield had been bulletproofed, said an Iraqi army officer. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.
Mosul, Iraq's third largest city about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been described as the last major urban area where the Sunni extremist al Qaeda group maintains a significant presence.
In Baghdad, rockets and mortars began slamming into the Green Zone about sunrise, and scattered attacks persisted throughout the day, sending plumes of smoke rising over the heavily guarded district in the heart of the capital.
A U.S. public address system in the Green Zone warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows.
U.S. spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said four people were wounded in the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies as well as major Iraqi government offices. She gave no nationalities.
But Iraqi police said 10 civilians were killed and more than 20 were injured in rocket or mortar blasts in scattered areas of eastern Baghdad - some of them probably due to misfired rounds.
Also in the capital, seven people were killed and 14 wounded in a suicide car bombing Sunday in the Shiite area of Shula in the capital, police reported. Such attacks are the hallmark of Sunni religious extremists.
Gunmen opened fire on passengers waiting for buses in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad, killing at least seven men and wounding 16 people, including women and children, according to police.
Police also found the bullet-riddled bodies of 12 people - six in Baghdad, four in Mosul and two in Kut, scene of clashes between government troops and Shiite militiamen.
Elsewhere, several mortars or rockets struck a U.S. base in the Shiite city of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. The American military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the Green Zone attacks, but suspicion fell on Shiite extremists based on the areas from which the weapons were fired.
The attacks followed a series of clashes last week between U.S. and Iraqi forces and factions of the Mahdi Army, the biggest Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr led two uprisings against U.S.-led coalition forces in 2004. Last August he declared a six-month cease-fire to purge the militia of criminal and dissident elements.
U.S. officials have cited the truce, which al-Sadr recently extended, among the reasons behind a 60 percent drop in violence since President Bush ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements to Iraq early last year.
But the cease-fire has come under severe strains in recent weeks. Al-Sadr's followers have accused the Shiite-dominated government of exploiting the cease-fire to target the cleric's supporters in advance of provincial elections expected this fall.
Al-Sadr recently told his followers that although the truce remains in effect, they were free to defend themselves against attacks. Al-Sadr followers have demanded the release of supporters rounded up in recent weeks.
U.S. officials have insisted they are not going after Sadrists who respect the cease-fire but are targeting renegade elements, known as special groups, that the Americans believe have ties to Iran.
But the pattern of the attacks against the Green Zone could be a signal to the Americans and their Iraqi partners to ease their pressure against mainstream Sadrists or the special groups.
Elsewhere, 12 gunmen were killed Sunday in a raid against a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba, the U.S. military said.
Iraqi police reported a dozen civilians killed in an air strike in the same area. But the military said those killed in the raid were insurgents, including six who had shaved their bodies apparently in preparation for suicide operations.
A police commander was shot to death along with his driver in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.
A roadside bomb near the northern city of Tuz Khormato killed four Iraqi soldiers, including an officer.
The violence was reported by police officials who declined to be identified because they weren't supposed to release the information.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 79 CommentsGod would never tell him to start a war that would kill tens of thousands.
Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, George W Bush - Sons of Satan.
Damned for all time!
Thank Gawd the Surge is Working
conservative are Anti American war mongers
greed driven evangelicals, billions for wall street
but not a penny for a disabled veteran
humanavance
bush is the criminal
LETS ROLL ON !!!
But, oh yeah, the surge ''is working''! SURE it is---
you are just another right wing tool,
a fool with no home and an UNAmerican ideaology
because conservative wanted a FOR PROFIT war
evangelical greed runs the uS Governmant
right on , that a good one,
a surge needed for the surge to work
---
At closing time, all of us have seen the buy in the corner of the bar, still chugging his down like he doesn''t know where he is, or what time it is.
The bartender usually has to tell him the place is closed for business.
And sometimes, the guy doesn''t even register what that means. He is too drunk with his own intake of alcohol and whatever else he doesn''t know what to do or say next.
And you know what this guy asks the bartender?
"Hey, hey, let''s party! Let''s go for another one! Hey, hey...!"
The tragedy in Beirut: 240 young Marines lost their lives, but we got out. Now is the time for us to get out... as rapidly, and as promptly, and as safely as possible."
- Senator John McCain, Oct. 14, 1993, urging an immediate withdrawal from Somalia
The core dilemma is not that Bush failed in Iraq and everyone knows it-- the ultimate problem is Bush pursues his political destiny with a deep disdain for the beliefs and standards which make us American. This "self-made man" believes, instead, in power for the sake of power. Bush learned early that merit has no necessary connection with political success. His choice of Karl Rove as political advisor embodies that attitude-- Rove is disciple to Donald Segretti, Nixon''s own "Dirty Tricks" chief.
We have only months left with Bush lurking about our political landscape. Our earnest wish should be that America confronts nothing worse than the perils of gridlock-- and hope that in moments of crisis, congress provides the voice and leadership we have missed for so long.
Without direct knowledge of what personally concerns
Bush on a daily basis, our concern should approach what Kissinger later expressed about Nixon, during the days Nixon brooded on the prospect of his own resignation.
Watching Nixon under such pressure, Kissinger was
genuinely and deeply worried about Nixon''s mental stability.
Whatever chemistry drives Bush, his relative lack of patience with detailed analysis, his preference for dramatic, sweeping gestures, and a thorough unfamiliarity with (and contempt for) the international community makes him a very unstable,
dangerous politician. As isolation compounds his volatility, and led by self-confessed guidance from a "higher power", Bush is threat to the nation, if not also to himself.
(see Bush-- Phantom of the White House-- 3 )
The most worrisome aspect of Bush alone is the lack
of any restraints on the powers he retains, which are still considerable. A lame duck president still has the powers and prerogatives of his office, and need not use the ever-present nuclear "football" to wield a very heavy stick as commander-in-chief.
This has implications ranging from another "super-surge" of troops for Iraq, to cross-border forays into Syria and/or Iran, to actual attack on Iran. The announcement of a troop surge in the face of Democratic objections not only formally began gridlock, last year, but some serious infighting between Bush and congress.
(see Bush-- Phantom of the White House-- 2)
"The American people did not support the goals of nation-building, peacemaking, law and order and certainly not warlord funding. For us to get into nation-building, law and order, etc, I think is a tragic and terrible mistake. But the argument that somehow the United States would suffer a loss to our prestige and our viability, as far as the No. 1 superpower in the world, I think, is baloney.
The fact is, what can hurt our prestige, Mr. President, I"ll tell you what can hurt our viability, as the world"s superpower, and that is, if we enmesh ourselves in a drawn-out situation, which entails the loss of American lives, more debacles... Look at the tragedy in Beirut, Mr. President, 240 young Marines lost their lives, but we got out. Now is the time for us to get out of Somalia, as rapidly and as promptly and as safely as possible."
- Senator John McCain, 1993
The Commander-in-Chief was a Democrat.
That made all the difference to Dishonest John McCain.
The tragedy in Beirut: 240 young Marines lost their lives, but we got out. Now is the time for us to get out... as rapidly, and as promptly, and as safely as possible."
- Senator John McCain, Oct. 14, 1993, urging an immediate withdrawal from Somalia
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You aced it, iceman.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 06:24 PM : Mar 23, 2008
McCain would sell his soul to Satan if he thought it''d get him the votes to become president. In fact with Bush''s endorsement that''s exactly what he''s done.
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Bush patted McCain''s shoulder, ostensibly to express solidarity among imperialists. But that object protruding from McCain''s shoulderblades is either a dagger or a radio-locator, such as used to track prey.
Bush and his minions at the GOP-- O''Limbaugh, O''Reilly, O''Hannity, O''Coulter, Karl der Reichsmarschall Rove, und legions of die Braunshirtengebrudern-- are ready to pimp for his election, then track him, isolate him politically, and kill him without further ceremony.
thank gawd their surge is working
mission accomplished for the republiCon was against
humanity
Posted by SgtRDS at 06:11 PM : Mar 23, 2008
My response:
That may very well be SgtRDS. But, therein lies where they have been consistant, as in, CONSISTANTLY WRONG!
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 07:15 PM : Mar 23, 2008
My response: Yeah! You''re right! And, the ''brown zone'' is in their pants! :)
greed driven conservative republiCONs
have ruined America
Or MAYBE it''s a message to us to GET THE HEL1 OUT of their country already!!!
"******Meet-SPAMMERS-Boomer.com******
Mr. President, 240 young..."
Posted by bikinigirl2"
Yeah yeah, FAKE comment so you could embed your wormy virus embedded dating site to install spy and adware on people''s pc''s people would be smart to never follow links like these posted by spammers.
Just use the "report abuse" button and enter "dating site spammer" for the complaint, and move em out.
is that the year your got your GED?
you are a right wing tool, a republiCON with the capital CON
;
find some evidence other than something bush/cheney/McBushCain stated that the people
setting off bombs are anything but simple Iraqi''s
trying to force americans to leave their (I REPEAT THEIR) COUNTRY
Bush/cheney is a war criminal
Illegal ,immoral, invasion by an immoral america
you should be ashamed
The ONLY success in the occupation was convincing al-Sadr into a truce. And now we''ve attacked some of his people and he''s given them permission to attack in defense.
The insurgents coming into Iraq have no ties to Islamic extremism. They are hired mercenaries coming out of Saudi Arabia. They''re either there at the behst of King Abdullah to keep pressure on the puppet government NOT to sign the PSA agreements for the oil, or they''re there at the behest of the Neocons to put pressure on the puppet government TO sign the PSA agreements. The insurgency is about the oil.
The few Islamic extremist terrorists originally in Iraq have not been seen by the generals on the ground in a long long time.
Posted by alphaa10 at 06:40 PM : Mar 23, 2008
Only if they''re not successful in their coming attempts to kill Barack Obama.
"Iraq security adviser to Americans: Be patient
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- As the Iraq war entered its sixth year, the country"s national security adviser urged Americans to be patient, contending that the war is "well worth fighting" because it has implications about "global terror."
"This is global terrorism hitting everywhere, and they have chosen Iraq to be a battlefield. And we have to take them on," Mowaffak al-Rubaie [cool name...] said Sunday on CNN"s "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."
"If we don"t prevail, if we don"t succeed in this war, then we are doomed forever," he said. "I understand and sympathize with the mothers, with the widows, with the children who have lost their beloved ones in this country.
"But honestly, it is well worth fighting and well worth investing the money and the treasure and the sweat and the tears in Iraq."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html
Well, just like Viet Nam the conflict, you neo cons will pay for this war of vanity.
Enjoy neo cons your day in infamy is coming.
"This is global terrorism hitting everywhere, and they have chosen Iraq to be a battlefield. And we have to take them on," Mowaffak al-Rubaie [cool name...] said Sunday on CNN"s "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."
Bush chose Iraq as the batlefield.
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