BAGHDAD, May 14, 2008
Suicide Bomber Kills 22 At Funeral In Iraq
At Least 40 Wounded At Funeral Of Sunni Grammar School Principle
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Relatives of 27-year-old Salah Mozan cry during his funeral in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Iraq, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Mozan was killed in Tuesday's clashes in Baghdad's Shula neighborhood. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
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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.
The bomber blew himself up inside a funeral tent in the village of Abu Minasir, just west of the capital. Police say that funeral was for Taha Obaid, the principle who was shot and killed one day before in his school. There was no reason known for Wednesday's killing, but many members of so-called Awakening Councils, Sunnis who switched allegiance and are now fighting al Qaeda, were attending the funeral. Col. Faisal al-Zubaie, the director of police in nearby Fallujah, says the original death toll was 18, but some people died later.
Mosques were calling for donations of blood to treat those wounded in the explosion, says al-Zubaie.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge of a military operation to rout al Qaeda in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum.
The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country.
Also Wednesday, south of the capital, a young girl strapped with explosives killed an Iraqi captain and wounded four soldiers. Iraqi army Lt. Ahmed Ali said the explosives were detonated by remote control as the girl approached the Iraqi commander in Youssifiyah, in the area once known as the Triangle of Death.
Both Iraqi and American spokesmen confirmed that the attack took place, and the U.S. military said it was investigating. Maj. John Hall, a coalition spokesman, said U.S. reports indicated one Iraqi soldier was killed and seven wounded.
Al-Maliki's flight to Mosul, 225 miles northwest of the capital, Iraq mirrors a trip he took almost two months ago to the southern city of Basra, where government troops fought radical Shiite militias. That fighting spread to Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad, where a cease-fire to end fighting was reached this week.
Associated Press Television News footage showed al-Maliki being briefed by senior Iraqi officers and officials who used large maps to point out their operations. Al-Maliki made no comment.
"The Iraqi prime minister has arrived in Mosul to supervise the military operations, and its second phase is due to start today," Mohammed al-Askari, the spokesman of the Iraqi Defense Ministry, told The Associated Press. "The main aim of this operation is to purge and clean Ninevah province of all militants and their weapons and declare it a safe area."
Mosul is considered the last important urban staging ground for al Qaeda in Iraq after the terror group lost its strongholds in Baghdad and other areas during the U.S. troop buildup last year.
Al-Maliki has been promising a crackdown since January. But no major offensives have been mounted even as al Qaeda in Iraq tried to exert its influence through attacks and intimidation.
Al Qaeda and its supporters would find themselves without a major base of operations if ousted from Iraq's third-largest city, which occupies transport crossroads between Baghdad, Syria and other points. But a drawn-out fight could serve to rally insurgents and expose potential security weaknesses where U.S. troops are thin and Iraqi forces must take a front-line role.
"We are closely linked with Iraqi security forces and will support operations that the prime minister is developing over the next couple of days," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said. He added that Iraqi troops had arrested more than 500 people and captured five weapons caches. He said the operation was shifting gears.
In western Iraq, a senior U.S. commander said Wednesday that al Qaeda persists and that a recent increase in attacks shows that the group remains a threat there. A group of al Qaeda fighters recently infiltrated the area, went to the homes of 11 Iraqi police officers in the Anbar town of Husaybahand and beheaded them and one of their sons, he said.
Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the commander of U.S. forces in Anbar province, said it appeared the insurgents crossed from the Syrian border, talked their way through a checkpoint and then went around the town grabbing police individually.
"I went up to the site yesterday and had never seen so much blood," he said Wednesday at his office at Camp Fallujah. Kelly said 11 of the victims were police officers and another was the son of one of the officers. "We are so hard to kill, they target the police," he said.
"Al Qaeda is not defeated. It's an ideology," he said. "Al Qaeda is still operational but on a smaller scale."
Sadr City was largely quiet Wednesday as Shiite fighters appeared to respect a cease-fire agreement, though some skirmishes were still being reported. The fighting left five dead and 22 wounded, according to hospital officials.
"The cease-fire is still active and we are still at square one," said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, an Iraqi army spokesman. "Nothing has been achieved so far as security forces are still waiting for the Sadrist leaders to prepare the appropriate atmosphere to enable our security forces to enter Sadr City to do their duties."
Bergner said that while U.S. commanders around Sadr City reported a drop in violence, some fighting persisted.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 45 CommentsIn Iraq, they attack the police and their families to ''blood'' them to fight against the freedom fighters that al Qaeda tries to pass themselves off as...
This is why the Regime was so desperate to sell the silly story that the Shi''ia in Iran were aiding their arch-enemies, the Wahabbis, whose theology informs the ''al Qaeda'' CIA front. This attempt must have been recognized as a flop because the press has said since that al Qaeda has ''declared war'' on Iran...and the Hezb''allah...who, with the Lebanese Army is rooting these CIA provocateurs out of Lebanon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051403554.html?hpid=sec-world
By targeting the police with their al Qaeda assets, they make the war personal to them...and they use them against the insurgency...vengence is a powerful motivater.
You see the same type of thing in the police attacks on protestors in Toronto where another element of the New World Order was being challenged by democratic protestors...One element of the police dressed as masked ''Anarchists'' and mingled with the protestors throwing rocks at the police...the uniformed police excercised restraint...then, suddenly the ''Anarchist'' were challenged and uncovered as police agents...
In Seattle, Genoa and other places...the ''Anarchists'' were able to withdraw and the police attacked the peaceful protestors after being assaulted by their own ''Anarchists''.
In Iraq, they are using their ''al Qaeda'' assets to provoke and promote terrorism...for the police to react against targets as long as they are labeled as ''al Qaeda''...
http://www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=12841
Troops home now! The real enemy of the American people is the Demopublican Regime in Washington! War...Corruption...energy price gouging...food price thievery...police state...open borders...housing crisis...incompetence and complicity in thrall to villainy!!
As a matter of fact I think ANY radical religious/non-religious indoctrination or practice is scary....whether they be Muslims, Jews, Christians, or atheists..... Suicide bombings are horrific and wrong!! I just responded to your talking point about what Americans have taught Islamic groups.....
Posted by notblue at 10:13 AM : May 15, 2008
What part of training the Mujahadeen is fictional?? I even said that the US DOES NOT teach suicide bombings....all I said was that the CIA trained them on how to do all of those items I listed.....Do you DENY that the CIA armed, trained, and financed the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan??
Posted by notblue at 09:55 AM : May 15, 2008
No we didn''t. But American CIA men did teach them how to use terror, guerilla warfare tactics, IED''s, and more that are now used against us....
Sacrifice, that''''s our Georgie.
Posted by Nancy_Naive at 02:26 AM : May 15, 2008
I wonder if he announced this at one of his 6 week vacations in Crawford, TX, or from the family yacht off the coast of Kennebunkport, ME on one of his 4 week "golf and fishing" expeditions with daddy?
Iran and Iraq are enemies. Now, the Bush administration seeks to install a Democracy in Iraq. We are already seeing the same Islamic fundamentalists squashing Democracy. I doubt they will require 26 years to succeed.
Democracy is only a strong as the beholders allow it to be.
If we initiate an immediate troop withdrawal and accept 300,000 to 400,000 Iraqi refugees, we would be better off. The Iraqi''s who befriended us and tried to participate in a Democracy need a sanctuary here, because if allowed to stay in Iraq, they will be overthrown and killed in a mass execution that Islamic fundamentalists are known for.
Democracy requires a population that accepts political leaders who are not also serving dual roles as clerical leaders. The Islamic population doesn''t permit this to exist in their thinking.
First, why so you believe Mohamed was indeed a prophet and not a false prophet?
Evangelism, as shown by the lastest news of fanatical LDS members show that the similarity is close, scary close. In that regards religon is used as ameans to manipulate people to slave for their master towards an insane goal.
The chasm between Islam and other religions is extremity that a Muslim will go to to honor their god. Quite honestly I can''t understand taht if their god is so powerful, why doesn''t this god need puny mortals to do his bidding?
Muslim on Muslim violence shows what hate this religon preaches.
Love thy neighbor as you would yourself is a simple Christian following, that quite frankly is one of Allah''s (God, Earth Mother, whatever) lessons that are programed into every child. It takes a corrupted person to deprogram this out of an individual and Islam has done this very thoroughly.
"More brotherly love from one Muslim to another. Who else wants a kiss of death?"
Are you brain damaged or just stupid?
Are you telling me that Christians don''t kill each other?
I''m guessing you''re just fu*king too stupid to realize that.
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