4 Separate Iraq Blasts Kill At Least 23

Attacks On Green Zone Checkpoint, Minibus; U.S. May Have To Free Thousands Of Detainees

(CBS/AP)  A female suicide bomber blew herself up near an entrance to the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a bomb tore through a minibus carrying Iraqi government employees in separate attacks on Monday that killed at least 20 people, Iraqi officials said.

A third attack on an Iraqi police patrol in Baghdad killed two civilians, police said.

The violence came as Iraqi lawmakers prepared for a vote Wednesday on a security pact with the United States that would enable American forces to stay in Iraq for up to three more years under strict Iraqi oversight.

In the first attack, a bomb attached to a bus used by the Trade Ministry to ferry employees to work exploded shortly before 8 a.m. in eastern Baghdad, police and hospital officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Thirteen ministry employees were killed and three were wounded, according to an official with the state-owned Iraqi shopping centers company who also spoke on condition of anonymity. The company is part of the Trade Ministry.

The rush-hour attack occurred in a Shiite area and the injured were taken to Kindi hospital in Baghdad.

The U.S. military said 14 people were killed and four were injured in the 7:20 a.m. blast on the minibus. It said American soldiers assisted Iraqi police in securing the area and treating casualties.

About 45 minutes later, a female suicide bomber blew herself up as she stood in line to be searched at a checkpoint near the Green Zone in central Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 13, according to an Interior Ministry official who declined to give his name.

The U.S. military said the bombing near the Green Zone occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and killed two Iraqi army members and three civilians. One civilian was injured, it said.

The Green Zone houses the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters.

In a third attack, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol around 10:30 a.m. near Technology University in eastern Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding four other people, an Iraqi police officer and an official at Ibn al-Nafis hospital said on condition of anonymity. Two police officers were among the injured.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is rushing to build criminal cases against some 5,000 detainees it deems dangerous - including suspected members of al Qaeda in Iraq - because the proposed security pact with Iraq would end its right to hold prisoners without charge.

The agreement, which is to be voted on by Iraqi lawmakers Wednesday, is primarily intended to set a timetable calling for American troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. But it also calls for control of security matters to shift to Iraqi authorities.

If passed, the deal would mean U.S. troops could no longer hold people without charge as they have since the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Beginning Jan. 1, all detentions would have to be based on evidence, and the U.S. would have to prosecute prisoners in Iraqi courts or let them go.

"At the end of the day, if there's not enough facts to justify a court case, then we'll have to release," said Brig. Gen. David Quantock, the commander of the U.S. detention system in Iraq.

The Americans have evidence against only "a few hundred" of the most dangerous detainees, Quantock said, leaving open the possibility that thousands could find themselves back on Iraq's streets soon.

"We have a lot of work to do," he said.

Part of the challenge stems from differences between the U.S. and Iraqi legal systems. In the United States, forensic evidence is widely used in the courts. Not so in Iraq.

[liberalme]

liberalme? you there? how come someone your age doesn''''t know that "mankind" is one word? hello? you there?

Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:18 PM : Nov 24, 2008


Aww sorry james I do know that, but I do have a life and must go to my grandaughters basketball game now.

Get a life of your own huh, you''re pathetic here.

[earache4]

i thought you had to work? big surprise you are still here......you libs even lie about having jobs.....sad
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:16 PM :

Leaving now james. Enjoy your evening.

[earache4]

translation: you figured out i didn''t spell any of the words wrong and you are avoiding admitting it by juvenile rants
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:12 PM

Do you mean: ''I didn''t (misspell) any words and you are avoiding admitting it?''

[earache4]

yea yea, i meant the post you said i spelled something wrong in.....which word did i spell wrong?
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:08 PM

LOL!! Do you mean which word did you (misspell)?

[liberalme]

i feel so sorry for your grandkids


Posted by jamesm12341

Why are you obsessed with MY grandkids--don''t you have any of your own?

[earache4]

correct me...how is supposed to be spelled?
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:04 PM

s_u_p_p_o_s_e_d

[liberalme]

what the hell does "must have ad a blast" mean?

Posted by jamesm12341

lol that should have been "had" you idiot couldn''t even figure that out!

[earache4]

you should probably apologize to your parents for growing up such a loser
Posted by jamesm12341 at 07:00 PM

LOL! ''growing up such a loser'' LOL! Are you sure that''s not ''wrongly spelled''?

I''m sure your parents raised you well, the education just didn''t take....

[liberalme]

you should probably apologize to your parents for growing up such a loser

Posted by jamesm12341

Have you done that yet? Your parents must have ad a blast raising you.

[liberalme]

you see? she doesnt deny that it consumes her.....sad. very sad.

Posted by jamesm12341

Ahhhh your problem is, you lack emotion---you''ve watched the Wizard of Oz too many times.
You have no empathy for your fellow man, I suppose the only time you get upset is when something unfair has been done to you right? Thus, your constant demeaning of most posts here---you james, are one pathetic person---our troops have died in vain--get over it huh?

[earache4]

Sorry james, I gotta go to work and help pay off Shrub''s debt. Another day, another story....

[liberalme]

You''''re awfully slow witted, is there someone else I can talk to there?


Posted by earache4

He has no wit---just pure disdain for man kind.

[earache4]

lol!! folks, this clown actually thinks sarah palin ran for president!!
Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:52 PM

Your folks are posting?

[liberalme]

give it up promaclaura....you mean well but these libs (especially liberalme) will be obsessing over this 30 years from now....it consumes their pathetic lives



Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:23 PM : Nov 24, 2008

What comsumes your pathetic life james? We all know it isn''t adding any intelligent input to these posts--is what consumes your pathetic life anger? Hmmmm I bet it is--poor you.

[earache4]

lame very lame.......um, genius? sarah palin didnt run for president
Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:48 PM

You''re awfully slow witted, is there someone else I can talk to there?

[earache4]

why didnt you run for president then?
Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:44 PM

God told me to let Sarah Palin run.

[earache4]

why still obsessing over it?
Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:39 PM

Because American servicemen and women are still dying. Why AREN''T you?

[earache4]

he didnt tell me
Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:38 PM

You mean the well know exit strategy was not common knowlege? And what exactly did America win in the Iraq war?

[earache4]

Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:34 PM

So james, if Bush proclaimed MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 5 years ago, why didn''t he immediately implement his well planned exit strategy?

[promaclaura]

give it up promaclaura....you mean well but these libs (especially liberalme) will be obsessing over this 30 years from now....it consumes their pathetic lives


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jamesm12341 at 06:23 PM : Nov 24, 2008

BDS = Bush Derangement Syndrome