BAGHDAD, June 26, 2008
Iraq Blast Kills 23, Including 3 Marines
Pro-U.S. Sunni Sheiks Target Of Suicide Bomber; Separate Blast Kills At Least 18 In Mosul
-
-
A worker checks out the body of the Deputy Chief of the local council of Karmah, Mizhin al-Joumaili, in a hospital in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, June 26, 2008. Al-Joumaili is one of at least 20 people who were killed after a suicide bomber struck Thursday inside a municipal building in Karmah, during a meeting of tribal sheiks opposed to al Qaeda, the police said. (AP Photo)
-
Iraqi men inspect a burned minibus after a car bomb detonated near the holy shrine of Imam Al-Abbas in central Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, on June 25, 2008. A suicide bomber struck a municipal building in Mosul on June 26, 2008, killing at least 18 people, according to the provincial governor. (AP Photo/Ahmed Alhussainey)
-
Iraqis inspect damaged cars after a car bomb blast in Karradah neighborhood, central Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, June 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)
-
A U.S. Army soldier patrols in Salman Pak, about 15 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, June 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)
-
Qasim al Sudani, an Al Sadr city council member lies on a bed in hospital in Sadr city, Baghdad as relatives and friend stand next to him, on Tuesday, June 24, 2008. Sudani is one of three council members who was wounded after a bomb struck a municipal council building Tuesday in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City district. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
-
-
Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
-
Interactive Iraq: 5 Years At War Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the war wears on.
Both attacks occurred in Sunni Arab areas where al Qaeda in Iraq has been active. They appeared to be part of a campaign by both Sunni and Shiite extremists to undermine U.S. efforts to shore up local administrations and secure the security gains achieved since early last year.
The target of the Mosul blast appeared to be the provincial governor, who was near the explosion but escaped injury.
Col. Fawzi Fraih, civil defense director of Anbar province, said dozens of sheiks had gathered in a building in Karmah, 20 miles west of Baghdad, for a meeting attended by U.S. officials when the bomber struck.
Local police Capt. Amir al-Jumaili said 20 Iraqis were killed and 20 others wounded.
The U.S. command said two interpreters were killed along with three Marines assigned to Multinational Forces-West. It was unclear if the interpreters were among the 20 dead reported by the Iraqis.
U.S. authorities suspected al Qaeda in Iraq was behind the attack.
Two policemen said the bomber was able to penetrate security because he was a wearing camouflage uniform of the Iraqi police commandos. Both policemen spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The blast occurred only days before U.S. troops are to hand over security responsibility for Anbar to the Iraqis, marking a major milestone in the campaign to lower the U.S. profile in an area that had once been center-stage of the war.
Anbar sheiks spearheaded the Sunni revolt against al Qaeda, one of the key reasons behind the dramatic drop in both overall violence and American casualties since 2006.
The media office for Anbar province said the dead included the town's administrative director and at least two chiefs of major Sunni tribes in the area.
The bomb in Mosul went off between the government headquarters and a market, where the governor of surrounding Nineveh province, Duraid Kashmola, was inspecting damage from an earlier rocket attack, police said.
U.S. authorities said 18 people were killed and nearly 80 wounded - mostly civilians. Mosul is the scene of an ongoing Iraqi military operation against al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups.
The street where the blast occurred had been blocked with concrete barriers but was reopened about three weeks ago as part of a government move to improve the quality of life and undermine support for extremists.
Adil Khalid, a 35-year-old grocer, said he went to the market to buy food from wholesalers when he saw a parked car explode about 100 yards (meters) away.
"It was like doomsday. People were panicked, running to escape," Khalid said. "Even policemen fled the scene but came back to evacuate the victims. I saw two or three bodies burned beyond recognition."
The two bombings were part of an uptick in violence that has pushed the monthly death toll for U.S. troops in Iraq to at least 26. That's well below figures of last year but an increase over the 19 who died in May, the lowest monthly tally of the war.
In all, at least 4,110 U.S. military service members have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Ten people, including four Americans, were killed Tuesday in a bombing in a municipal council office in the Shiite area of Sadr City in Baghdad.
Two Americans were shot dead and four wounded Monday when a disgruntled official opened fire as they left a municipal building in Salman Pak about 15 miles south of the capital.
In a Web statement posted Thursday, the al Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed three American soldiers and their interpreter in Nineveh two days ago.
The statement said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of a Muslim family in Mosul.
The U.S. military says violence in Iraq has dropped to its lowest level in more than four years, but attacks are continuing as Sunni and Shiite extremists try to regroup and undermine security gains.
In other developments:
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- CBSNews.com on Digg
Add a Comment See all 179 Comments
- 6/26/08
''I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that the current existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a ''national emergency'' to deal with that threat.''
Next??? - Reply to this comment
- I have to say that Tony Blair along with Bush and his whole crime family of imperialist elitists have NO credibility. That''s what a happens to you when you lie into a murderous travesty that destoys countries and destabilizes the entire world economy. You might as well quote Adolph Hitler as an expert on foreign policy issues.
- Reply to this comment
- And here we go:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372883,00.html
A big thanks to the savages for making my point for me. - Reply to this comment
- I can find no particular point of disagreement with Mr. Blair''s words. The only issue I would feel compelled to point out is that he sounds a tone of hope, which I do not see a reason to share at this time. I hate the thought of war with no end, and I wish we could end this one quickly. But I do not think the killing will be over anytime soon unless we resort to the atom bomb.
I also found interesting his thoughts on the Quran. It may very well be a progressive book, but unfortunately some of its most fervent adherents are anything BUT progressive thinkers.
More like a throwback to the Dark Ages. - Reply to this comment
- In my view, the situation we face is indeed war, but of a completely unconventional kind, one that cannot be won in a conventional way. We will not win the battle against global extremism unless we win it at the level of values as much as that of force. We can win only by showing that our values are stronger, better, and more just than the alternative. That also means showing the world that we are evenhanded and fair in our application of those values. We will never get real support for the tough actions that may well be essential to safeguarding our way of life unless we also attack global poverty, environmental degradation, and injustice with equal vigor.
The roots of the current wave of global terrorism and extremism are deep. They reach down through decades of alienation, victimhood, and political oppression in the Arab and Muslim world. Yet such terrorism is not and never has been inevitable.
To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is. I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church centuries later. The Koran is inclusive. It extols science and knowledge and abhors superstition. It is practical and far ahead of its time in attitudes toward marriage, women, and governance.
Tony Blair, From Foreign Affairs, January/Febuary 2007 - Reply to this comment
- zoopster1,,,, Obviously you can''t understand it. We don''t have one single general who thinks it''s a mlitary solution.
You might doubt if we were lied to, I know we were lied to... All through this administrion & every one was echoed by McCain ------ It''s been a continuing campaign of illusion trying to convence America Wars of Agression are good foreign polcy.
The idea of changing the Middle East or Central Asia by force is simply ignorant. ---- We convicted people at Nuremburg & hung them for doing the same thing & for the same ideal. - Reply to this comment
- No, terrorism is a tactic. It is psychological. Just like launching V2 rockets against London was. A tactic intended to spread fear and demoralize the civilian population.
Terrorism does not have a bible. It does not have a deity figure. It does not have have a league of followers. What it has, is a lot of people willing to use it against others to inflict harm. To spread fear. Look it up in a dictionary. - Reply to this comment
- So which is it.
Posted by avoice at 02:56 PM
Sorry for the confusion. I do not consider myself lied to about Iraq. What I was saying is that I cannot believe the extreme indignance and paranoia of people who think THEY were lied to about it. That kind of thing boggles my mind. I just can''t understand it.
As for hunting down and killing every Islamic radical in the world, I think it is an achievable goal, and a necessary one.
Pakistan may be an ally now, but this administration has exactly 7 months left. And don''t forget Syria was kind of an ally too once. Who is to say what the Islamic crazies will try next, and what our response to it will be? I would rather not speculate. - Reply to this comment
- zoopster1,,,, It''s an ideology, Not tactical warfare.
- Reply to this comment
- Terrorism is not an ideology. It is a tactic. Tactics can be countered.
Militant Islam is an ideology. Ideologies can be defeated with the appropriate application of law, diplomacy, resolve, and if necessary, force.
As for your misquoting me, just who the heck are you to tell me I have a logic problem?? I think you have one, but notice I do not make that accusation. If you want to help me with my logic problem, try researching the public record and employ that to make your argument. Information is plentiful and freely available. There''s no reason to go making up any. - Reply to this comment
