Suicide bomber kills 48 outside Iraqi military base
July 18th, 2010 . by TexasFredSuicide bomber kills 48 outside Iraqi military base
BAGHDAD (AP) — Twin suicide bombings killed 48 people on Sunday, including dozens from a government-backed, anti-al-Qaeda militia who were lined up to get their paychecks near a military base southwest of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across Iraq Sunday that were aimed at the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni group also known as Sahwa that works with government forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq. The attacks highlighted the stiff challenges the country faces as the U.S. scales back its forces in Iraq, leaving their Iraqi counterparts in charge of security.
The first attack Sunday morning — the deadliest against Iraq’s security forces in months — killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 40. It occurred at a checkpoint near a military base where Sahwa members were lined up to receive paychecks in the mostly Sunni district of Radwaniya southwest of Baghdad.
“There were more than 150 people sitting on the ground when the explosion took place. I ran, thinking that I was a dead man,” said Uday Khamis, 24, who was sitting outside the Mahmoudiyah hospital where many of the wounded were taken. His left hand was bandaged and his clothes were stained with blood.
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Suicide bomber kills 48 outside Iraqi military base
To date, 3,490 AMERICAN lives have been lost in combats actions in this Operation Iraqi Freedom debacle, yet Iraq isn’t free. After over 7 years of American sacrifice, Iraq is still at war with itself, and it will always BE at war with itself.
Iraqi Freedom? Iraq has never been free and it never will be.
To date, 1,188 American lives have been lost in Operation Enduring Freedom, the battle against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Afghan Freedom? Will that be the battle cry of those afraid to actually fight and WIN a war?
Has anyone thought that maybe Russia is now doing to us in Afghanistan what we did to the former Soviet Union back in the day? Operation Cyclone
In it’s inception, I was a hearty supporter of the war in Afghanistan, I felt that is was the place we needed to be, the place where we needed to start in this war on terror against al-Qaida and the Taliban.
I no longer believe Afghanistan is where we need to be. It believe it WAS the right place, until Bush took his eye off of the REAL target and took us along on his personal vendetta.
I NEVER believed that Iraq was a place we needed to go. I have long believed that Iraq was George W. Bush’s *get even* maneuver. He bore a personal grudge against Saddam Hussein for the threats Hussein made against GHW Bush.
Afghanistan WAS the right place, until politics took over the war, until the war became an overseas contingency operation, until Obama felt he had to back up his Islamic brothers.
I am firmly convinced that our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, hindered by a ridiculous set of Rules of Engagement, coupled with a desire from the White House and Pentagon to be able to fight a *surgically precise* war, a politically correct war, a war with ZERO collateral damage, has made our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan efforts that have been committed in vain.
I DO NOT blame our soldiers for this either. Those wonderful men and women will go anywhere they are needed and will destroy anything in their path if it means America will stand free in a place of leadership in this world, but they can’t DO their job with their hands tied behind their backs.
I am a solid Conservative and TEA Party leader, but I don’t hesitate to say, the GOP and George Bush led us down the path of death, destruction and bankruptcy in Iraq. Barack Hussein Obama is nailing the coffin shut with his political correctness in the prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.
Remember in November, vote em ALL out and replace RINOs and Dems with real American Patriots and Conservatives! Replace them with leaders that will LEAD this nation, not run it into the ground. Replace them with leaders that will let our military do the job they are intended to do.
And remember this, Iraq and Afghanistan are each about the same size in land area as is the state of Texas. We have been fighting for 9 years in those 2 areas and have no definitive result to show for our efforts.
If our current crop of politicos can’t stomach the defeat of al-Qaida, it’s time to put folks in office that can!
My dad told me not long after we got involved in Afghanistan and then Iraq that it was going to be another Viet Nam. I argued that it wasn’t because we wouldn’t get caught up in another situation like that. Dad held fast to his feelings right up to the day he passed away last December. I was in Viet Nam and as much as it pains me to say this, we’ve turned this into another Viet Nam. The politicians in Washington are running these “wars” now and we all know how they can snatch victory away in a heartbeat. Dad, I have to admit now that you were right. It pains me to say this, but we are not going to win this battle. We are once again going to come home with our tails tucked between our legs and will have lost whatever face we had left. Yes, Bush may have started it but rest assured that Obama will make sure that the conclusion results in our demise as a world leader. It would not totally shock me if the next conflict was right here on our own soil. I wonder if all of the rules of engagement our troops are hamstrung with now will apply then.
Here on OUR soil indeed…
We’re trying to build Iraq in a democracy bases upon our principals and it won’t work.
Every Arab nation that lives in relative peace does so under the iron fisted rule of its leaders.
Iraq had a peaceful existence, for an Arab nation, under Saddam and even between Desert Storm and Iraq Freedom, they lived a much more peaceful existence than now.
They’re a people that have to be ruled without mercy. We cannot redo other countries into our image. What works in America won’t work in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, or Egypt. The sooner our leaders learn that, the better off we’ll be as a nation.
My thoughts are similar to yours with a few tweaks…I do believe in a post 9/11 world, action against terrorism needs to be preemptive. I know a few in our military that were the first to enter Baghdad and they saw the empty and ransacked biological and chemicals labs. Will they ever have democracy? perhaps not, but I think it’s a fair statement to say democracies do not breed state sponsored terrorism. So it is a worthy objective in our interests. Bottom line though, let the military handle it and the politicians stay out of it. Then sooner or later we will see if the people of Iraq truly want a free and democratic society. If not, we did our best and leave them to their own devices.
Afghanistan is a different deal to me, it has never been unified and won’t ever be. Even on our best day we cannot convince them we are their friend. They take our money, resources we give them, and let our men spill their blood for them, and the next day plant an IED.
I say pull out everything except for the drones and wait for Bin Laden to pop his head out of a cave and zap him with a hellfire missile.
You KNOW some that were the 1st ones in?? Awesome… Now, listen to the what folks that did the actual Intel on this crap have to say…
The labs were ransacked by Iraqi scientists, they basically refused, by their inaction, to build Saddam a nuke…
Some .155mm Howitzer shells, manufactured pre 1991 and loaded with fully depleted Sarin are NOT the WMDs were were told that threatened us… We were led to Iraq on the whim of an impertinent child that wanted to vindicate *Daddy* and take care of that mean old Saddam…
Iraq was, and still is, a JOKE of the worst kind, and not worth one more American life, dollar or minute of our time…
Afghanistan WAS a worth cause, in it’s inception, but it has now become as untenable as is Iraq, the violence in Afghanistan will continue until an IRON FISTED dictator emerges again and settles this in Muslim fashion, and Iraq is the exact same…
BobF KNOWS, maybe a few others need to open up their eyes and SEE what happened and not just sympathize with their love of a president or a party…
I agree it was not a war we should have gotten into….but
BobF stated…. under Saddam they lived a much more peaceful existence than now. WTF….you don’t really believe that sh*t do you??? Saddam killed 1000′s upon 1000′s of his own people…yes they were not Sunni…but they were Iraqi. If you count all the Iraqi people that have died since this war began it would not amount to 1/10th of what he killed in one month.
Politics are for use before a war starts…once the first bomb falls it should be an all out battle until one side is dead or gives up. We should have kept bombing the sh*t out of Iraqi until they raised the white flag…then shot the leaders as they came in.
That would get the word out….Don’t Mess with USA !!!
Now we are going to come home with work unfinished…and each side will still be fighting just as they now bicker back and forth in North & South Korea.
Afghanistan was a necessary war to have. But the war should have been REVENGE and Retribution and an example to the world.
When we attacked Afghanistan, it was very apparent after the first couple of days that was nothing left of value to destroy. They have no infrastructure, no real military targets and basically we were spending an ungodly amount of money destroying shacks…The enemy went to the caves in the mountains and have stayed there for the most part…Now we are fighting the “Taliban” and the resurgence of foreign fighters. BECAUSE WE ARE STILL THERE! Our mission should have been over within a year but nutless wonder decided we need to be all PC about it. Now we are stalled and under the command of liberpuke nutless coward.
Iraq on the other hand was being monitored by the no-fly zone, taking much time and effort in the UN and it was basically a rogue state that was eventually going to be a bigger problem. We had the upper hand on action against them because of 9-11. No problem IMO, but what Iraq did have was an educated (Compared to Afghanistan) population, infrastructure, and a some-what civilized society that “Could” be brought into the modern era…AND it would sandwich Iran between “Two” democracies if it worked….I honestly believe that was a part of the reason. Had it worked and had the bassackwards muzzie pukes been ready to crawl out of the 17th century… maybe.
from 2001 to 2004 should have been ass kicking ONLY, mind bending, violence and utter destruction of the enemy. PERIOD. What did we do? Our elected officials decided to rebuild nations in the middle of fighting and it cost men and time and gave the liberpuke media time to get their cronies and lemmings on the anti-wagon….Americans have short memories.
Time to remove ALL of the forces in both countries and see what happens I guess…Not in it to win it? GTFO.
extex_cop, yes sir, I do believe that. Like I said, Saddam ruled Iraq with an iron first, just like every other Arab ruler in that part of the world. I’m not justifying what he did and the numbers of his people he killed. But, in their daily lives, the people of Iraq didn’t live in fear of each other and attacks on the street like that do now. What I am saying is that the people of Iraq and Afghanistan will only submit to a regime who rules with an iron fist. The view democracy as weak and it’s leaders as weak. Any leader who steps down because of a simple vote is a weak leader. All those people know is heavy handed merciless rule. It’s been that way for over 1,000 years and it’s also their religion; a religion they believe with all their heart, soul, and mind. A Democratic Society is contradictory to the Koran. We as Americans cannot begin to comprehend the mindset of the people of that part of the world. Our values of right and wrong are completely different from there’s.