December 08, 2009
Booldy Wed. Bloody Sun. Bloody Tues. Bloody ???
Today was one more deadly day in Iraq. Five suicide car bombs claimed the lives of more than 130 innocent Iraqis. People did nothing wrong but being at the wrong place at the wrong time. As we Muslims say, its their destiny which took them there where they lived their last moments, the moments before their bodies turn into small parts flying in the air because of the birds of death sent by some human brutes. Those who were lucky were wounded but still alive. The news talk about more than 400 people wounded and I am sure dozens of them lost some of their organs but they will accept that because at least they are alive. Others who were luckier survived but they will live for a while with the image of death dancing in their minds and dreams. It is not nice dancing in any way.
Our politician again competed in showing their regret and sorrow for the great loss. Statements of condolence were issued by many parties and officials but will these statements bring those who died back to life? Our unique parliament gathered (of course not all of it and never dream about it) and they started accusing what they call (Parties or Sides) they did not want to name. Of course, Baath party was always present. It was accused to ally with Qaeda to plan and implement these attacks. Of course they did not forget to give a name to the day. They called it the bloody Tuesday. Now we have the Bloody Sunday, the Bloody Tuesday and the Bloody Wednesday. People almost forgot that we already had a Bloody Friday when many mosques were attacks and so many innocent people died. I am afraid that with such weak security procedures we would have more bloody days and our politicians would not find names.
Within two or three days, our politicians will forget the victims of the Bloody Tuesday because they will be busy with the election campaign. They will give promises to control the security situation, to provide jobs and to improve life and services in Iraq. These promises will evaporate the moment they become lawmakers and all they think about will be their personal interests. All they are going to give us more names for more bad days in our BLOODY LIFE in our BLOODY IRAQ.
Rest In Peace Our Dear Brothers. You Will Be Always In Our Hearts and Minds.
08 Dec 2009 08:49:41 GMT
Source: Reuters
TOLL IN BOMBINGS IN BAGHDAD RISES TO AT LEAST 112 KILLED, 105 WOUNDED - IRAQI POLICE
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 112 people were killed and 105 wounded when four or more large car bombs shook Baghdad on Tuesday, the latest high-profile blasts apparently aimed at sensitive Iraqi government buildings, police said.
World
The explosions rattled buildings across the capital, and undermined a fragile sense of security ahead of an auction of oilfield contracts this weekend, when executives from top oil firms will fly into town, and before an election next year.
Three people died and five were wounded in a first blast in a southern Baghdad suburb, police said.
Others were killed and wounded in at least three successive explosions in the city center half an hour later, police said.
"Civilians and security personnel have definitely been killed. We all announce more details as we have them," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi told Reuters.
Some police sources said there had been five explosions, two near judicial buildings, one near a university, another near in a central Baghdad commercial district and the earlier one in the south. Smoke billowed from at least two sites.
The blasts are the first large, high-profile explosions in Baghdad since October 25, when two massive truck bombs killed 155 people at the justice ministry and Baghdad governorate headquarters.
A smaller blast, which some police officials said might have involved the accidental explosion of a hidden stockpile of munitions, killed seven children at a school in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City on Monday.
The major bomb attacks in the heart of the Iraqi capital in October and a similar earlier attack in August marked a change of tactics for Iraq's stubborn insurgency.
Rather than stage frequent smaller-scale attacks against soft targets like marketplaces or mosques, insurgent groups like al Qaeda now appear to be aiming for spectacular and less frequent strikes against heavily defended government targets.
Overall violence triggered by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has fallen dramatically. The health ministry in November reported the lowest monthly death toll of Iraqi civilians in 6-1/2 years.
(Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Michael Christie)
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Car bombs rock Iraqi capital, 112 killed
08 Dec 2009 13:02:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Some car bombs detonated by suicide bombers
* Targets were government sites in heart of Iraqi capital
* Large-scale attacks mark change of tactics by insurgents
By Suadad al-Salhy
BAGHDAD, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Car bombs killed at least 112 people in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, leaving pools of blood, charred buses and scattered body parts in a brutal reminder of the threat from Iraq's stubborn insurgency.
The blasts, most detonated by suicide bombers, ripped through crowded areas close to government buildings, which should have been under tight security after previous devastating attacks in the capital in recent months.
The bombings undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's claims to have brought security to the country before a national election now scheduled for March 6, and could rattle foreign oil chiefs due in Iraq this weekend for a major contract auction.
"We had entered a shop seconds before the blast, the ceiling caved in on us, and we lost consciousness. Then I heard screams and sirens all around," said Mohammed Abdul Ridha, one of the 425 wounded in the series of at least four blasts.
Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi gave a lower death toll of 63. It was not possible to explain the discrepancy with the numbers provided by police sources. The Health Ministry said it was difficult to determine the exact number because many bodies had been blown to pieces.
Smoke billowed and sirens wailed as emergency workers removed the dead in black body bags. Pools of blood had formed next to burnt-out minibuses, police vehicles and dozens of crumpled cars at one bomb site, the blast leaving a huge crater.
"What these gangs are doing are criminal acts which express their bankruptcy and disappointment ... after what the Iraqi people and its political powers have achieved,"Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement.
Analysts said the attacks, similar to spectacular bombings in the Iraqi capital in October and August, were meant to shake faith in Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim-led government.
The earlier blasts were blamed on Sunni Islamist insurgents and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
"It's the same style and the same vital targets. There is one political motive -- to show that the government has failed to provide security," said analyst Hazim al-Nuaimi.
OIL AUCTION STILL ON
In one attack, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle in the car park of a courthouse, after getting through a checkpoint, police said.
Another blast, this time a parked car bomb and not a suicide bomber, struck a temporary building used by the Finance Ministry after its main premises were devastated in the August bombing.
A third bomber blew himself and his car up near a training centre for judges.
The first blast of the day struck a police checkpoint in south Baghdad about 30 minutes before the other three. It, too, was a suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives.
Iraq's Oil Ministry said it would not cancel the planned tender of oilfield development contracts on Dec. 11 and 12, which executives from the world's main oil companies are due to attend. The deals are seen as crucial to Iraq's efforts to raise the cash required to rebuild after years of war and destruction.
NEW INSURGENT TACTIC
Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply in the last two years, and November's monthly civilian death toll was the lowest since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
But Iraq's security forces, now largely working alone after U.S. troops pulled out of urban centres in June, have struggled to prevent major attacks that experts say require strong intelligence-gathering to prevent.
A handful of U.S. soldiers were at the scene of one blast site, collecting evidence, while Iraqi police looked on.
Tuesday's attacks were the worst in Baghdad since Oct. 25, when two massive truck bombs killed 155 people at the Justice Ministry and the offices of the governor of Baghdad.
After each attack, the government ordered tighter security and Maliki promised the culprits would be captured.
The bombings mark a change of tactics for Sunni Islamist insurgent groups such as al Qaeda. Rather than frequent, smaller-scale attacks against soft targets such as markets, they now appear to be aiming for spectacular and less frequent strikes against state targets. (Writing by Mohammed Abbas, additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley, Aseel Kami and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Michael Christie and Mark Trevelyan)
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Iraqi PM asks for patience after Baghdad bombings
AP
Mohammed Saad, 18, warms up on a small fire as he stands in front of his destroyed house in Baghdad, …
By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press Writer – 27 mins ago
BAGHDAD – The prime minister appealed Wednesday to Iraqis to stand by their security forces, even as angry lawmakers demanded answers and called on top officials to resign following the third massive attack against government sites since summer.
Nouri al-Maliki was expected to attend a special parliamentary session Thursday where lawmakers have demanded his interior and defense ministers appear to answer questions on how bombers once again found holes in security in heavily guarded central Baghdad, according to the parliament speaker's spokesman.
But al-Maliki appeared ready to make some changes. State-run Iraqiya TV reported he ordered a shake-up at the top of Baghdad security — moving the deputy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Hashim Ouda, to the top spot. The current commander, veteran military leader Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, will take Ouda's post, the announcement said.
The shuffle, however, doesn't come close to the wholesale purges demanded by some lawmakers and other critics.
Al-Maliki asked Iraqis for patience and warned against fomenting political divisions following Tuesday's string of suicide bombings that killed at least 127 people and wounded over 500 in the Iraqi capital.
"I call on the Iraqi people for more patience and steadfastness," he said Wednesday in a televised address.
The deadly bombings raised tough questions for al-Maliki about the abilities of Iraq's security forces ahead of next year's withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. The U.S. military has warned of a possible rise in violence ahead of the March 7 parliamentary elections.
Ayad al-Samarrie, the parliament speaker, called on the interior and defense ministers, the commander of Baghdad military operations and other security officials to appear before the special session, said Omar al-Mashhadani, the speaker's spokesman.
Top security officials have been called twice before — and failed to show up — to answer questions in parliament about security lapses, after suicide bombers in August and October killed hundreds in attacks on other government buildings.
This time, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani agreed to attend the session under one condition — that it not be held behind closed doors, according to a statement released by his office. It was not immediately clear whether his demand was met or whether other officials would attend.
The prime minister has so far not sacked any of this top security advisers, but there have been growing calls for resignations following the most recent attacks. Al-Maliki has been running for re-election on a platform of improved security, and any perceived security failures could cost him as well as his political party at the polls.
During the address on state television, al-Maliki said Iraq's security strategies would be reviewed and possible personnel changes made. He, however, stopped short of saying whether any top officials would be held responsible for security lapses or whether he would be shuffling his security advisers.
The U.S. military has said it will keep the bulk of its 120,000 troops in place in Iraq until after the election.
Abbas al-Bayati, the head of parliament's defense committee, said Iraq must have an emergency plan to deal with any violence ahead of the elections.
"The Iraqi people need convincing answers from the security commanders," al-Bayati told state television. "If the security falls apart, then everything will collapse."
There have been no claims of responsibility for the latest attacks, though Iraq has claimed al-Qaida and loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath party were behind the August and October as well as the most recent bombings.
Al-Maliki appeared to demand that Syria must do more to stop senior Baath Party officials living on its territory from plotting attacks against Iraq. The prime minister has in the past accused Syria of harboring senior Baathists who masterminded attacks in Iraq. Syria denies the charges.
"I demand of the international community and all countries, including neighboring countries, who condemn the attacks to turn their words into actions and support the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government by confronting terrorism," al-Maliki said.
However, Baath Party spokesman Khudair al-Murshidi denied that Baathists were behind the attacks, which he condemned in comments to Al-Jazeera television from Damascus, the Syrian capital.
While violence has dramatically declined in Iraq, insurgents have continued with some regularity to launch attacks against security forces and civilians.
On Wednesday, there were scattered reports of violence across the capital.
A bomb attached to a minibus exploded in northern Baghdad, killing two and injuring 11, an Iraqi army official said.
A bomb hidden in a garbage heap killed two street sweepers and injured three passers-by in northern Baghdad, while an hour later in the same neighborhood a gunman killed a police officer at a checkpoint, police said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Meanwhile, rescue operations were halted Wednesday around the labor and finance ministries as well as the court complex after crews completed their search through debris, said police Col. Safaa Saadi Jawad, the deputy head of the Interior Ministry's rescue operations.
"If we receive reports from families of missing people, we will look some more," he said.
Funerals were under way for bombing victims. Some families carried black flag-draped coffins through the streets, while others waited at the morgue to claim bodies authorities were still working to identify.
___
Associated Press Writer Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.
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Dec 13, 3:11 PM EST
Iraq: No time to act after US tip before blasts
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer
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BAGHDAD (AP) -- The U.S. military had warned of an imminent attack hours before last week's deadly bombings in Baghdad, but the tip came too late to act on, Iraqi security officials said Sunday as outraged lawmakers pressed for answers about Iraq's ability to protect the capital.
Even news that 13 al-Qaida-linked suspects have been detained in connection with the bombings did little to quell the angry parliament members, who shouted down security officials as they tried to defend their forces.
The grilling in parliament was the third session since Tuesday's attacks that put government officials and security brass on the hot seat. It also suggested that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may need much bolder action to repair the government's image heading toward March elections.
So far, he shook up the Baghdad security command and some officers have been placed in custody for possible negligence after bombings that left at least 127 people dead and more than 500 wounded.
But many lawmakers - mostly political foes - have refused to let the government off the hook.
For them it was prime-time political theater with lengthy portions broadcast on state television. Some jabbed their fingers toward security chiefs and demanded more details and accountability about what went wrong.
"We need you to tell us the truth about when the Iraqi forces will be fully capable of protecting the country," said Maha al-Douri, a Shiite lawmaker.
The bombings were the third such attack since August against government buildings, raising serious questions about the abilities of Iraqi forces ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops at the end of August 2010.
The former head of Baghdad security command, Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, took the brunt of the backlash on Sunday. He was demoted to No. 2 after the blasts.
On the morning of the attacks, he said Baghdad's security command received intelligence from the U.S. military that insurgents would soon carry out three attacks, including one in or near the protected Green Zone, home to the prime minister's office, parliament and the U.S. Embassy.
He said the tip indicated there would be two car bomb attacks in the morning and another later in the day. Three major explosions shook Baghdad about five hours after the Americans notified the Iraqis.
Qanbar said there was not enough time to chase leads or enough detail in the U.S. intelligence to reassign units.
U.S. military officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said 13 suspects had been arrested in connection with Tuesday's bombings.
"There are 13 coffins waiting for criminals implicated in Tuesday attacks, and those criminals will be tried and convicted," al-Bolani told lawmakers.
He did not elaborate, but an official at his office later said the 13 suspects are accused of being al-Qaida-linked insurgents who helped mastermind the bombings. They are the first arrests confirmed after last week's blasts.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
The U.S. military did not immediately confirm the arrests.
But even the announcement of arrests failed to calm lawmakers, who have been growing increasingly testy with the government since al-Maliki's blame-shifting tactics in a parliament address last week. The prime minister attributed security shortfalls to a host of problems, including political infighting and a lack of communication between security branches.
Al-Maliki and other government officials have all tried to counter criticism by citing accomplishments in security training and taking gradual control from U.S. forces.
"We do not need to hear about achievements. We are here to discuss the mistakes and the solutions to end these breaches," complained Waiel Abdul-Latif, a senior Shiite lawmaker.
Violence in Iraq has dropped off dramatically over the past two years, though insurgents have routinely targeted Iraqi security forces or staged high-profile bombings.
On Sunday, a car packed with explosives blew up near a passing police patrol in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killing at least two people but missing the security chief who was the apparent target, a police official said.
The blast in Fallujah killed at least two guards accompanying police Col. Saad al-Shimari, who was not harmed. At least seven people were injured, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Near the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded next to a crowd of Iraqi army recruits, killing two people and injuring 19, said a Mosul police official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack occurred about three miles (five kilometers) east of the city, which is considered the last major urban base for Sunni insurgents.
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Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
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