Iraqis angry at security lapse in deadly bombings

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqis vented anger Monday at a major security lapse that allowed two suicide truck bombers to penetrate what was supposed to be one of Baghdad’s safest areas, killing 155 people, including 24 children leaving a daycare center.

Sunday’s twin suicide blasts in the heart of the capital targeting the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad Provincial Administration were the worst attacks in more than two years. They raised fears about Iraq’s ability to protect itself as it prepares for January elections and the U.S. military withdrawal.

The children who were killed were on a bus leaving a daycare center near the Justice Ministry when the attack occurred, said an official at the hospital where the bodies were brought. A police official confirmed the death toll and said the bus driver was also killed and six children injured. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Baghdad’s top security officials brought reinforcements to guard government institutions Monday and blocked streets around the capital, acting on intelligence suggesting such buildings could be the militants’ next target, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the city’s operations command center told The Associated Press.

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Iraqis angry at security lapse in deadly bombings

When Saddam Hussein was running Iraq, you never heard of anything like these bombings happening. Maybe they DID happen and the Iraqi news was controlled to the point that the word never got out. In any case, you never heard of it happening. And the Iraqi people were unhappy.

Saddam was a brutal and sadistic dictator, he was merciless when dealing with his enemies. And the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Saddam was fighting a war with Iran, the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Saddam was killing the Kurds in Northern Iraq he was hailed as a murderous SOB along the lines of Hitler. And the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Saddam was kicked out of Kuwait by American and coalition forces, the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When American forces were enforcing a No-Fly zone in an effort to protect the Kurds, the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When American troops entered Iraq in the ill-named Operation Iraqi Freedom, thousands of Iraqis, military and civilian were killed. And the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Saddam was captured, many Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Saddam was hanged for his crimes against humanity, many Iraqi people were unhappy.

When the U.S. army was patrolling the streets of Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities, the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When Nouri al-Maliki was elected as Prime Minister, many Iraqi people were unhappy.

When the U.S. forces began their draw down, some were ecstatic, but many of the Iraqi people were unhappy.

When the suicide/homicide bombers continued to kill Iraqis, even though those attacks could no longer be blamed on bombing directed against American troops, the Iraqi people were unhappy.

I don’t know about you, but I seen a pattern of unhappiness in the Iraqi people. No matter what happens in Iraq, they are unhappy.

Maybe it’s time to bring our troops, contractors and money HOME. Let the Iraqis find their own level of happiness, in their own way, in their own time. And who knows, maybe my predeiction of a Saddam like replacement surfacing may come to fruition. I have believed that for a long time, as soon as we’re gone, a new dictatorship comes in.

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33 dead in suicide attack on Iraq tribal leaders

BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bomber struck Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders and high-ranking security officials touring a market after a reconciliation meeting west of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 33 people in the second major attack in the capital area in two days.

Despite the ongoing violence, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said he does not believe the Iraqi government will ask Americans to remain in the country past a 2011 deadline set by a security agreement between the two countries.

The bombing - which left clusters of bodies near the shabby market stalls lining a road - was part of a spike of violence that comes as the U.S. military begins to draw down its forces.

The bomber detonated an explosives belt as the tribal leaders were walking through the market in the town of Abu Ghraib, accompanied by security officials and journalists, according to the Iraqi military.

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33 dead in suicide attack on Iraq tribal leaders

Is it just me?? Does anyone else think it strange that now, after 6 years of U.S. occupation and supposed pacification, that Iraq still has these kinds of attacks with such huge numbers of casualties?

Our involvement in Iraq is akin to owning a boat. Yes, a boat. A device that produces a hole in the water, one into which the owner throws great sums of money. That is what Iraq has been for America. We have lost over 4,250 lives, the lives of U.S. troops, we have spent untold BILLIONS of U.S. taxpayer dollars and we have gained absolutely NO return from our investment.

I’d say that lack of return, in and of itself, pretty much dispels the Libbers claims of Iraq being a *WAR FOR OIL*. Iraq was not a war for oil, Iraq was a temper tantrum thrown by George W. Bush and was the catalyst for this terrible money crunch that we are suffering. Well, along with some other sweetheart and brother in law deals made BY Bush and Cheney!

The 2011 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw was set in a security agreement that took effect on Jan. 1. There has been speculation the Iraqis may ask the U.S. for an extension.

Count on it, and I’ll tell you why. The Iraqis are the most ill-motivated people on the face of this earth. Iraqis have been ruled under a dictatorship, in one form or another, for centuries. That is all they know. They are incapable of standing on their own. That is a totally foreign notion in their mindset.

The Iraqis will accept whatever happens to them, Saddam was proof of that. Iraq was a relatively peaceful place as long as Saddam was in power, peaceful in the terms of open warfare and insurgent bombings. That was because Saddam kept a tight lid on Iraq, the Iraqi people KNEW what Saddam would do if they went against him and his regime.

Terror, and RULE by TERROR are the accepted method of government by the Muslims, of all sects. The strong man wins, corruption is the rule of the day in Iraq, democracy is not an acceptable practice and the idea of a Republic? Well, that’s as strange to the Iraqis as is democracy and acceptance of Christianity.

Iraq has basically been a waste of life and fortune, and if the USA continues to remain engaged in Iraq, Iraq will continue to bleed us dry! The only good thing I can say about this entire story is, NONE of the dead were U.S. servicemen…

Iraqis fear U.S. pullout from Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq - Grenades lie unattended next to a west Mosul bazaar. Garbage bags throughout the city are searched daily for bombs. At a sprawling sheep market, Iraqi army soldiers are careful not to kick over rocks for fear of setting off hidden explosives.

War has ebbed in most parts of Iraq, but not in Mosul, the third-largest city and al-Qaida’s last stronghold in the fragile new democracy. And time is running out on the around-the-clock U.S. military patrols of Mosul. U.S. troops must vacate cities by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis, and President Barack Obama is ending all American combat operations after August 2010.

The Iraqi security forces are not sure they’ll be ready.

“If you don’t have the Americans, this is not going to be good,” said an Iraqi army captain who gave his name only as Ahmed to protect his family from insurgents. “I cannot take care of it.”

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Iraqis fear U.S. pullout from Mosul

Well, I guess it’s time for the Iraqi army to *grow a set*. As some are fond of saying, fish or cut bait. Then there’s my favorite, put up or shut up. There’s a few more little euphemisms that could be used, but you get the idea.

Anyone that has ever read this blog knows, I NEVER felt that Iraq was the right place, the right time or the right people. I always felt that Iraq was nothing more than a temper tantrum and GWB’s way of vindicating himself in his fathers eyes. Once we were in Iraq I was totally, 100% behind the troops and their jobs to be done, even if I didn’t agree with the mission, a *troop* follows orders and gets the job done.

My biggest gripe was this, we didn’t need to go, many advisers tried to tell Bush that but he wasn’t going to listen to anything that wasn’t in lockstep with HIS ideas, so, once there, why did Bush and Rumsfeld tie the hands of our troops and not allow them to actually eliminate al-Qaeda from Iraq? Why did Bush insist on micromanaging the war instead of leaving warfighting to the warriors?

So far, there has not been so much as one thing that I can even remotely agree on or like concerning the administration of Barack Obama, but if he can withdraw our troops from Iraq then he will have done at least one thing right. He may destroy this nation, but by God, George Bush started it, all Obama is doing is finishing the job…