posted on February 3, 2007 08:48:36 PM new
Scores Killed in Baghdad Market Blast
Updated 10:35 PM ET February 3, 2007
By STEVEN R. HURST
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with a ton of explosives hidden beneath cooking oil, canned food and bags of flour obliterated a Baghdad food market on Saturday, killing at least 121 people in one of the most fearsome attacks in the capital since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
It was the fifth major bombing in less than a month targeting predominantly Shiite districts in Baghdad and one provincial city to the south. This one leveled about 30 shops and 40 houses, witnesses said.
The Health Ministry said more than 300 people were injured in the thunderous explosion that sent a column of smoke into the sky on the east bank of the Tigris River. The nearby al-Kindi hospital _ quickly overwhelmed _ began turning away the wounded and directing ambulances to hospitals in the Shiite Sadr City neighborhood.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the bombing was "an example of what the forces of evil will do to intimidate the Iraqi people."
The bombing came just days before American and Iraqi forces were expected to start an all-out assault on Sunni and Shiite gunmen and bombers in the capital.
Only a day earlier, 16 American intelligence agencies made public a National Intelligence Estimate that said conditions in Baghdad were perilous.
"Unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress ... in the coming 12 to 18 months, we assess that the overall security situation will continue to deteriorate," a declassified synopsis of the report declared""""
posted on February 4, 2007 05:31:10 AM new
U.S.: 4 Copter Losses Due to Ground Fire
Updated 7:23 AM ET February 4, 2007
Listen to Audio Clip
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - All four U.S. helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since Jan. 20 appear to have been brought down by "some kind" of ground fire but it is unclear whether this represents any new threat to U.S. aviation, the chief U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.
It was the first time that the U.S. command has publicly acknowledged that the three Army helicopters and one private helicopter were probably shot down.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters that the investigations into the crashes are incomplete but "it does appear they were all the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those helicopters down."
"We don't see this as a focus just on the multinational force," Caldwell said. "There's been an ongoing effort since we've been here to target our helicopters. Based on what we have seen, we're already making adjustments in our tactics and techniques and procedures as to how we employ our helicopters."
Meanwhile, eight people were killed in two car bombings Sunday, four at a bus station serving the Shiite Sadr City enclave and four while waiting to refill propane cooking gas canisters in south Baghdad's dangerous Dora neighborhood.
In the aftermath of the worst single bomb attack in Iraq since the start of the war _ 132 people killed in a suicide truck bombing on a Shiite market _ stunned Iraqis loaded coffins onto minivans and picked through the rubble of buildings.
The explosion Saturday was fifth major bombing in less than a month targeting predominantly Shiite districts in Baghdad and the southern Shiite city of Hillah. It also was the worst in the capital since a series of car bombs and mortars killed at least 215 people in the Shiite district of Sadr City on Nov. 23.
Hospital officials said 132 people were killed and 305 were wounded in the thunderous explosion that sent a column of smoke into the sky on the east bank of the Tigris River. Heavily bandaged women, children and men filled hospital beds, while several bloodied bodies were piled onto blankets on the floor of the morgue, which was filled to capacity.
The blast shaved the walls off nearby buildings, sending bricks, desks and other debris spilling onto Kifah Street, where the Sadriyah market was located. Minivans carried wooden coffins as funeral services were held for the victims.
Adnan Lafta, a 51-year-old seller of gas cylinders, said people had recovered two bodies and body parts from under the rubble, while Shiite militiamen prevented anyone from entering the emptied buildings.
Police used loudspeakers to ask people to leave the area, fearing another suicide bomber could slip into the crowd.
"It is a tragedy. The terrorists want to punish the Iraqi people. There was no police or American presence in this market yesterday," Lafta said.
The bombing came just days before American and Iraqi forces were expected to start an all-out assault on Sunni and Shiite gunmen and bombers in the capital.
Only a day earlier, 16 American intelligence agencies made public a National Intelligence Estimate that said conditions in Baghdad were perilous.
"Unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress ... in the coming 12 to 18 months, we assess that the overall security situation will continue to deteriorate," a declassified synopsis of the report declared.
Suspicion fell on Sunni insurgents _ al-Qaida in Iraq and allied groups in particular. The militant bombers are believed to have stepped up their campaign against Shiites in the final days before the joint U.S.-Iraqi crackdown in Baghdad. Many saw the operation as a last-chance effort to clamp off violence that has turned the capital into a sectarian battleground.
Iraqis elsewhere in Baghdad faced another round of bombings and shootings on Sunday, with at least 22 people killed, including two cell phone company employees in a drive-by shooting and four policemen who were struck by a roadside bomb.
Iraqi soldiers also detained 32 militants and discovered four weapons caches in western Baghdad, seizing 1,128 mortar rounds, five rocket-propelled grenades, a rocket launcher, 50 anti-aircraft shells and other ammunition, according to the Defense Ministry.
Suspected Sunni attackers have appeared emboldened in recent weeks after radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, under pressure from fellow Shiites who dominate the government, ordered the thousands of gunmen in his Mahdi Army militia to avoid American attacks in the coming assault.
Saturday's death toll surpassed a Feb. 28, 2005, suicide car bomb targeting mostly Shiite police and national guard recruits in Hillah that killed 125.
In the hours after the explosion, Shiite and Sunni mortar teams traded fire across the darkened city. Two people were killed and 20 wounded in one predominantly Sunni district.
The White House called the bombing an atrocity. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the attack was "an example of what the forces of evil will do to intimidate the Iraqi people."
Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabiri of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said the truck had been packed with a ton of explosives.
An Iraqi militant group tied to al-Qaida in Iraq announced Saturday it had launched its own new strategy to counter the coming U.S.-Iraqi crackdown.
In an audiotape posted on a Web site commonly used by the insurgents, a voice purported to be that of Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, also known as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, said the group would "widen the circle of battles" beyond Baghdad to all of Iraq. Al-Baghdadi heads The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of insurgent groups in Iraq.
The U.S. military reported the deaths of five more soldiers _ four in fighting and one of an apparent heart attack. All died Friday.
Iraqi authorities said that 145 people were killed or were found dead Saturday, including those killed in the market bombing. Of the total, 19 were found dumped in the capital, most of the bodies showing signs of torture.
___
Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
posted on February 4, 2007 08:45:36 PM new
Well, see, if linduh can keep up her homophobe thread then she can pretend to ignore this thread that she CAN'T address.
posted on February 5, 2007 08:15:44 AM new
Haha! linduh, up all night trying to prove human pollution doesn't affect the earth ...but hasn't got a second to come up with any "progress" reports from Iraq.
posted on February 5, 2007 08:52:23 AM new
mingotree,
The only new-con reply you (might) get here is some very dumb azz trying to compare U.S. gang wars with BUSHY's failed invasion of Iraq.
You must remember Liar_k bragging about the U.S. opening schools in Baghdad that was until they starting shooting students and teachers.
You must remember how Liar_k was bragging about electric service in Iraq. That was until we all found out that to this day availability in many areas is only 6 hours a day.
How about you never heard one word about millions of professional people leaving Iraq. That is being called a brain drain of Iraq.
posted on February 5, 2007 09:15:50 AM new
And helen, you remind me of an old discarded lover who just HAS to find fault with anyone who has anything to do with their former lover.
I see you haven't said a word to stone.
I see you haven't an opinion on anything but me ("duh" factor ???)
For someone who has had many marathon insult contests with linduh you're a fine one to talk !!!
I LOVE rubbing this in linduh's face (or any other Fascist neocon war loving bloodthirsty bush worshipping jerk)
It's fun !!!
It REALLY breaks my heart that YOU don't agree...no, no honest, it really does...
posted on February 5, 2007 10:09:24 AM new
The difference, Mingo is that in those days of pre-Coultergiest Linda there was no consensus of opinion that Linda should be ignored. And unlike you, my attention was not focused primarily on Linda.
It's my opinion that the resurrection of this board with you and Coultergeist Linda as the main event will not play. As you can see, few posters remain here or post often. There is only you and linda and the usual ignorant grunts and groans. But apparently from your point of view, if it's fun for you then to hell with everyone else.
posted on February 5, 2007 10:20:22 AM new
Oh wah wah wah helen, ANYONE can jump right in and I really don't think Kiara or profe or coincoach or Bigpeepa will appreciate being called ""ignorant grunts and groans"".
How nasty of you!
Yup, it's fun for me and you have no idea why or why not people post here...Hell , there's not enough here to even form an opinion on that...
I got an idea, why don't you start a thread, post an OPINION, tell a joke, and ignore me...can YOU do THAT ???
posted on February 5, 2007 10:53:52 AM new Idiot... I have the utmost respect for Kiara, Profe, Coincoach, and many other good posters here. They know that and so do you.
Play your silly games with Linda, but don't try to twist my words!
posted on February 5, 2007 11:47:15 AM new
Like this, Helen:
Bomb and Mortar Attacks in Iraq Kill 38
Updated 2:05 PM ET February 5, 2007
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Violence raked Baghdad Monday as an Iraqi general took charge of the security operation in the capital and Iraqi police and soldiers manned new roadblocks _ initial steps indicating the start of the long-anticipated joint operation with American forces to curb sectarian bloodshed.
At least 38 people died in bomb and mortar attacks across the city Monday, 15 of them as they waited to buy gasoline when two car bombs blew up in quick succession in south Baghdad. Seven people died after nightfall when four mortar shells rained down on a Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad.
The violence was a sign of the difficulty facing as many as 90,000 American and Iraqi troops and police waiting to be called upon for a third attempt to calm the capital in nine months. The command center, staffed by Iraqis and Americans, opened Monday inside the U.S.-controlled Green Zone next to the prime minister's office.
"It's going to be much more than this city has ever seen and it's going to be a rolling surge," Col. Douglass Heckman, the senior adviser to the 9th Iraqi Army Division, said Sunday.
Two past security operations in the capital over the past nine months _ Operations Together Forward I and II _ have failed and the United States blamed Iraqi authorities for failing to produce the number of troops promised.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week that Iraqi troops who arrived to augment the newly assembled Baghdad force were only at about half the number promised.
posted on February 5, 2007 12:11:03 PM new
Well, I for one will pop in right here!
Helen, I love "Coultergeist"! Where did you get that one?
And, to everyone, it is a horrible crime what we've done to the country of Iraq. Horrible, almost unimaginable. I feel that more strongly every day.
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on February 5, 2007 12:11:36 PM new
And, P.S.--Where IS Ann Coulter these days? I haven't seen her on TV for ages.
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on February 5, 2007 12:35:01 PM new
Roadsmith, I agree that "Coultergeist" is very descriptive...I think I heard the term used first on MSNBC in reference to her column. Maybe it will become a new word in the dictionary.
Now she is raising hell with conservatives because they won't use dirty tricks to defend Libby! She has become a laughing stock even among Republicans.
posted on February 5, 2007 01:35:23 PM new
I certainly hope that hellen and sybil have BOTH taken their meds today. Their little "tete-a-tete" is getting more like blood-letting recently.
===========
Ann's alive and well.....posting about the dem 'ladies' [I guess some might call them 'ladiers]....and their FOUL mouths. tsk tsk tsk
And here I THOUGHT edwards was trying so hard to put forth a 'clean cut, down home' image to the voters.
And I'm REALLY LOL at 'waco'peepas comment about 'rubbing my face in it'.
ROFLMHO at his IGNORANCE.
One doesn't 'rub someones face in the TRUTH being posted at that time.
But leave it to the nuts to think because things WERE that way then....they're doing anything but making TOTAL FOOLS of themselves/HIMSELF, once again. LOL LOL LOL
posted on February 5, 2007 01:49:19 PM new
Linda, who the heck is Sybill???
_____________________
A person who is nice to you but rude to a waiter is not a
nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.) ~Dave Barry
posted on February 5, 2007 02:01:59 PM new
Sybil had a book and movie written about her life. She had duel personalities and suffered from mental illness. She struggled to find out which of her two personalities was dominant.
Since mingotree/crowfarm as called me Linduh for years...along with MANY other insultive names....I thought this name was very appropriate for her.....especially since she often posts using TWO different userids in this forum. tsk tsk tsk
Heck, who knows maybe she uses MORE than just those two
posted on February 5, 2007 06:16:20 PM new
Ha linduh, I know there is absolutely NO [progress in Iraq but REALLY..to try to change the subject wit the following is absurd !
""Ann's alive and well.....posting about the dem 'ladies' [I guess some might call them 'ladiers]....and their FOUL mouths. tsk tsk tsk"""
Ann coulter taking someone else to task for using bad language !!!
OM GAWD! That's hilarious! That foul mouthed piece of crap sure has nerve !
Oh, and for the record , linduh of the tight corset, the Old Maid TSK TSK TSK, ..
SOME may call them "LADIERS"
but I really don't care to be called "ladier" or lady...I consider it an insult(there is NO such word as insultive, bozo)....Reminds me of a dried up old maid with a tight girdle who TSK TSK TSKs all the time.....
posted on February 5, 2007 06:16:51 PM new
Ha linduh, I know there is absolutely NO [progress in Iraq but REALLY..to try to change the subject wit the following is absurd !
""Ann's alive and well.....posting about the dem 'ladies' [I guess some might call them 'ladiers]....and their FOUL mouths. tsk tsk tsk"""
Ann coulter taking someone else to task for using bad language !!!
OM GAWD! That's hilarious! That foul mouthed piece of crap sure has nerve !
Oh, and for the record , linduh of the tight corset, the Old Maid TSK TSK TSK, ..
SOME may call them "LADIERS"
but I really don't care to be called "ladier" or lady...I consider it an insult(there is NO such word as insultive, bozo)....Reminds me of a dried up old maid with a tight girdle who TSK TSK TSKs all the time.....
posted on February 6, 2007 12:07:41 AM new
linduh, I'm sure your definition of 'feminine' is quite different from mine.
Mine is better.
Yes, I love rubbing it in that you were so wrong about the "progress" in Iraq.
What's happening now is what bushit was warned was going to happen ..not only by his father but oh..just the rest of the world.
Ya know why NOBODY has a good plan? Because NOTHING can stop the escalation of slaughter that BUSH started. And NO, congress did NOT vote for this. They were tricked by LIES, Repugs and Democrats alike, by a leader they made the mistake of trusting.
Your head-in-the-sand attitude doesn't change a thing. And you unwillingness to admit the obvious only shows your basic cowardice.
posted on February 6, 2007 12:51:28 AM new
Lindak, you've said time and time again you weren't interested in reading anything I say here so you've probably missed it whenever I've commented directly to others or to their posts.
I picture you as a pissed off old hornet living all alone in its nest. Sometimes I can't resist poking with a stick to see how long it will take you to come out and swarm the board and crap your smilies all over the place.
posted on February 6, 2007 08:14:59 AM new
Sounds like you too need to take your meds, kiara.
You picture???? ROFLMHO......more fantasies...more from your delusional imagination about what the lives of others are like. Normal for you, but always SO off base.
======================
The rest of the story
By Michelle Malkin · February 05, 2007 11:30 AM
I am addressing this to the Senate staffers who read this blog. As you and your bosses formulate statements about what's working and not working in Iraq and prepare to vote on the surge/clear-and-hold/counterinsurgency plan, I ask:
Do you know the whole story?
Or are you relying on the NYTimes and AP for full, honest assessments of the failures, successes, setbacks, and forecasts?
Make time in your bosses' schedules to listen to embed Michael Yon's take in his podcast interview with Glenn and Helen. He's been traveling throughout Iraq--Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul (where he spent the last month), and now Baghdad--and has witnessed "tremendous progress" amid danger.
Make time to read Bill Ardolino's report on how training of Iraqi Army forces is progressing in Fallujah.
And make time to read Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette on the coming actions and the stakes:
"As you read these words, American soldiers are counting ammunition, suicide bombers are preparing farewell videos, reporters are outlining stories, and speechwriters are typing furiously away.
As six million people in Baghdad wait and pray."
Get the whole story. Make an informed vote.
Iraq procedural debate begins at 4pm Eastern today. C-SPAN has a special page up here.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
Ann Coulter
[ edited by Linda_K on Feb 6, 2007 08:18 AM ]
posted on February 6, 2007 11:10:22 AM new
Uh, so sorry those long posts are too difficult for you to read linduh, but if you try really hard you'll see that the diplomat was in Iraq....deeply in Iraq...
Blog away but the rest of the world KNOWS how bad things are in Iraq. Even your god-bush admitted it...why do you think he's "changing plans" ?
linduh, it's obvious you're not well-read..try to expand your horizons ...
