BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 25, 2009
Baghdad Rocked by Car Bombs, Scores Dead
At Least 147 Killed, Including 35 Staff Members of Provincial Council, in Blasts Targeting Government Offices
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In this image from an amateur video, a policeman reacts as one of two huge car bombs explodes in central Baghdad Sunday, Oct 25 2009. (AP Photo)
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Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack in Baghdad on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Police say a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad as people headed to work. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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The dead body of a man is carried away from the scene of a massive bomb attack in Baghdad, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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A pair of suicide car bombings Sunday devastated the heart of Iraq's capital, killing at least 147 people in the country's deadliest attack in more than two years. The bombs targeted two government buildings and called into question Iraq's ability to protect its people as U.S. forces withdraw.
The bombings show that insurgents still have the ability to launch horrific attacks even as violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq. Many fear such attacks will only increase as Iraq prepares for crucial January elections.
The dead included 35 employees at the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, said police and medical officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. At least 721 people were wounded, including three American contractors.
The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic six months ago. Shortly after, blast walls were repositioned to allow traffic closer to the government buildings. Such changes were touted by Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a sign that safety was returning to the city.
The Iraqi leader walked among the mangled and blackened cars, which lay in front of blast walls that had been decorated with peaceful street scenes of Iraq. At the Justice Ministry, windows and walls on both sides of the street were blown away, and blood pooled with water from burst pipes.
Al-Maliki has staked his political reputation and re-election bid on his ability to bring peace to the country and pledged to punish those responsible, who he said wanted to "spread chaos in the country, undermine the political process and prevent the holding of parliamentary elections." But the Sunday attacks seemed designed to paint the Iraqi leader as incapable of providing security to the beleaguered city, undermining much of his political support.
The attacks occurred just hours before Iraq's top leadership was scheduled to meet with heads of political parties in order to reach a compromise on election guidelines needed to hold the January vote.
President Barack Obama, who earlier this week reaffirmed the U.S.'s commitment to withdrawing its troops from the country, called al-Maliki to offer his condolences.
"These bombings serve no purpose other than the murder of innocent men, women and children, and they only reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve," Obama said.
Sen. John McCain
The Arizona Republican said the attacks indicate that improving the situation there is a slow process and a "terrible tragedy." He blamed extremists trying to ignite sectarian violence, but said that while such attacks continue, "they are not sustainable.
"The majority of the people are opposed to them. And the Iraqi military will be able to handle this transition. But it's not going to be without tragedies such as we've seen just today," he added.
The fact that the vehicles were able to get into an area home to numerous government institutions - just hundreds of yards from the heavily fortified Green Zone where the U.S. Embassy and the prime minister's office are located - sparked demands that those in charge of the city's security be held accountable.
"Those responsible for security and intelligence should be checked and interrogated," said Sunni Iraqi lawmaker Wathab Shakir. "Why should innocent people be killed?"
The initial investigation suggested the vehicles, each loaded down with more than 1,500 pounds of explosives, might have passed through some security checkpoints before hitting their destination, said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, a spokesman for the city's operations command center.
There have been no claims of responsibility so far, but massive car bombs have been the hallmark of the Sunni insurgents seeking to overthrow the country's Shiite-dominated government. Iraq has accused members of the outlawed Baath Party living in neighboring Syria of being behind another series of deadly bombings in August that also targeted government buildings. Al-Maliki blamed Sunday's attacks on Baathists and al Qaeda.
Black smoke billowed from the frantic scene, as emergency service vehicles sped to the area. Many of the wounded were loaded into the back of trucks and into civilian cars because there were too many for ambulances to carry.
"The walls collapsed and we had to run out," said Yasmeen Afdhal, 24, an employee of the Baghdad provincial administration, which runs the city. "There are many wounded, and I saw them being taken away. They were pulling victims out of the rubble, and rushing them to ambulances."
The provincial council is the city government, which oversees a broad range of city services such as garbage collection, electricity, distribution of fuel for generators and school maintenance.
U.S. troops were also called in at the request of the Iraqi government to help secure the area, deal with any explosive material and offer forensics personnel to assist in the investigation, said a military spokesman, Maj. Dave Shoupe.
The coordinated bombings were the deadliest since a series of massive truck bombs in northern Iraq killed nearly 500 villagers from the minority Yazidi sect in August 2007. In Baghdad itself, it was the worst attack since a series of suicide bombings against Shiite neighborhoods in April 2007 killed 183.
Three American security contractors working for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were injured in the blasts, said Philip Frayne, an embassy spokesman. Frayne could not immediately provide details about who the contractors were escorting, which company they worked for or the nature of their injuries.
The explosions were just a few hundred yards from Iraq's Foreign Ministry, which is still rebuilding after massive bombings there in August. The bombings were a devastating blow for a country that has seen a dramatic drop in violence since the height of the sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
On the streets of Baghdad, many Iraqis were angry at what they described as a lapse in security and wary about what will happen when U.S. forces leave.
"Everyday, we hear statements from different government officials that our forces are ready to control the situation on the ground when the U.S. forces withdraw," Zahid Hussain Najim said. "But day after day it has been found that these officials are either liars or have no idea about what's going on outside their offices."
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- BAGHDAD, April 25, 2009 ...... Clinton: Iraq Is On The Right Track
In Surprise Visit To Baghdad Says U.S. Will Help In Creation Of Non-Sectarian Security Force.
Obama again is making himself perfectly clear - He is appalled & outraged and can not, will not, won't let this happen again or again or ...... Empty Suit to go along with the Rhetoric. Go figure! - Reply to this comment
- Obama's fury at Baghdad bloodbath
US President Barack Obama has led international condemnation of Sunday's double suicide bomb attack in Baghdad that killed at least 132 people.
Let me make this perfectly clear. For the last year Obama has been appalled & outraged. Almost as much fury as he has displayed towards Fox News. So Sad! - Reply to this comment
- "Tell me, when will the cruelty of mankind end?
'When a single heart of suffering awakens all who sleep.'"
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - Reply to this comment
- The only "terrorists" here are the foreign invaders. The same type of resistance would be happening in the U.S. if things were turned around and the U.S. was the occupied country. Furthermore, none of this would be happening if Iraq were not invaded in the first place. All the death's in Iraq are either directly or indirectly because of the actions of the imperialist U.S.
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- When you get rid of the 'foreign' fighters fighting us in your country, we will leave.
Every time we try to walk out the door and leave your country, you try to shoot us in the back.
You tell me, If we cannot turn our backs on you without dangerm of being backstabbed, why should we leave?????????
- @ ToolMangler1
your army is not doing a god damn thing. they are sitting in the base.
while all the sh*t is going on out there.
- by ToolMangler1 October 25, 2009 8:57 PM EDT
When you get rid of the 'foreign' fighters fighting us in your country, we will leave.
Every time we try to walk out the door and leave your country, you try to shoot us in the back.
You tell me, If we cannot turn our backs on you without dangerm of being backstabbed, why should we leave?????????
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The reason we need to leave is that our government and our country cannot afford to waste the money in places that provide no return on investment for the tax payer.
If Haliburton and big oil are not ready to leave, then let them foot the bill to keep our soldiers in Iraq.
- "they are sitting in the base.
while all the sh*t is going on out there."
Thaat is where you people told us to put them.
You said "We will handle the insurgents ourselves". But you haven't..
You keep saying, "All foreign soldiers 'fighters' get out of our country" But there are more foreign fighters in your terror squads than there are 'US' troops in you country!!!!
If you want us to leave, then get rid of the terrorists and we are gone, just like that!!
Otherwise, shut your vulgar mouth.
- When you get rid of the 'foreign' fighters fighting us in your country, we will leave.
- "We engaged forever in battles that should never have been fought and have never been won."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - Reply to this comment
- Naw, because the signs of cannibalism point to Jihad and its supporters.
- Reply to this comment
- Yeah, I wonder WHO is REALLY setting off these bombs?!
I mean...if ALL Americans left there...and bombing continued...at least we'd know for sure it wasn't one of us...or anyone connected to the U.S. government!
It's just that they have these LONG lulls in bombing over there...then President Obama is considering whether or NOT to send MORE troops to 'Stan and the bombing picks up in Iraq? Coincidence?!
The "mysterious" bombings supply a reason to 'stay put', don't they?!
Which means, American forces and operatives 'stay put', too! - Reply to this comment
- "A peoples revolution cannot be won by a foreign army."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - Reply to this comment
- I just know someone is going to blame the NRA for this too.
- Reply to this comment
- What is wrong with those sick people? My God, why do they always want to kill innocent people? I hate terrorists so much. They are just cowards and losers. I hope they are punished so much when they get to hell. May they suffer a thousand fold more than their victims.
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- The Shiites still have a grudge to settle with their Sunni counterparts, but I don't believe they are responsible for this. I am more inclined to blame the alQueda centered in Pakistan for this, because they don't want the Obama administration to send more troops into Afghanistan that will come from Iraq. I truly expect the violent bombings in Iraq to continue as President Obama makes even a sound that he will authorize more troops to Afghanistan.
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- Oops. Change 'woulded' to 'wounded' in my last post.
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- These comments are strange. Some seem to have no relation to the article. Some writers seem to think that George Bush is still president, and Cheney is still vice-president. And, since they are not, what do they think Bush and Chevey could do? Nonetheless, if Bush were still president, the headline would not have said "scores dead", it would have said, "Almost 1000 dead or woulded."
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- Baghdad Rocked by Car Bombs, Scores Dead
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And George is going around giving Motivational Speeches.... - Reply to this comment
- What IS that smell? Agit-prop? Jihad? The stench of bad ideas?
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- Maybe the U.S. Embassy in Bagdad is just a cover. I think Cheney has his office there. The Middle Eastern White House.
He never intended to step down. Indeed he now considers himself to be the King. He has a room in the M.E. White House where the floor is covered in oil soaked Persian carpets, where he, Karl CHRISTIAN Rove, Rush Limburger, and the rest of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), spend hours rolling around and frollicing in a mad orgy. - Reply to this comment
- The ebb and flow in violence in Iraq in 2009 has been for one month to have high casualties, and then for them to go down the next, and then rise again the following month. Since Sep. 09 was one of those months with low casualties, one could predict an increase in Oct. It also shows the weakness of the insurgency. Despite this huge bombing they are only capable of carrying out such attacks every other month. It would also be wrong to judge the state of Iraq simply from these bombings, because attacks and deaths are still at an overall low since the 2003 invasion. musingsoniraq.blogspot.com
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- How would all of you survive without your opium derivatives? You really think the war is about oil? We got oil, We din't have poppy fields.
And 3 points:
Obuma did not withdraw troops like he promised.
Obuma is the pressident now.
Do you know the death count in Chicago or New Orleans by people we call citizens of the United States but insist they are from Africa? - Reply to this comment
- I have figured out the strategy for both wars - replicate April 30, 1975 in Baghdad and Kabul.
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- These kind of bombings never happened with Saddam around.
Thanks USA - Reply to this comment
