'Many casualties' in Iraq bombing

[cal04]

A car bomb has exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, causing many casualties, Iraqi police have said. The blast happened at about 2030 local time (1730 GMT), in a commercial area teeming with shops and restaurants, police said. Basra is the headquarters of the British troops in Iraq, who number about 8,500.

It comes a day after at least 30 people were killed in a car bombing in a Shia village north of Baghdad. Emergency teams are removing body parts from in front of a restaurant on Algiers Street, which was packed with families out for the evening during the Ramadan festival.

An AFP photographer at the scene said the explosion had torn through a crowd and destroyed at least four cars. Although such attacks are common in central and northern Iraq, the south, predominantly populated by Shia Muslims, has been comparatively peaceful.

Sixteen people were killed in a car bombing in the city in September. That was the worst incident of its type since the US-led invasion began in March 2003. Correspondents say the increase in violence in southern Iraq suggests the insurgents are beginning to gain a foothold in the area.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4394412.stm

[endarkenment]

1. Basra insurgents == British SAS?

Or at least it is highly probable that the British SAS is involved in insurgent activities in southern iraq. A good question is why is the British SAS involved in insurgent activities in southern iraq?

[Kagemusha]

2. If you don't have a reason for why, maybe there isn't one,

and maybe it's not as highly probable that the British SAS is involved in insurgent activities in southern Iraq as you think.

[endarkenment]

5. Well except for the SAS guys

caught dressed up in arab mufti riding around in a car full of bombs and weapons you would have a point. They were up to something.

[Stella_Artois]

11. I saw a photo of the contents of that car

There were GPS, comms, a laser designator and various weapons but no bombs. There was a hold all with cables in it. That could have had a bomb in it, but maybe not.

Of course, the picure could have been faked. Or not.

[endarkenment]

12. The report from the Iraqi police was

quite different. But what would they know? They just captured them and their car.

[Stella_Artois]

15. And they took the photographs

At least, allegedly. Perhaps the photo i saw was a fake, perhaps the police were really Al Sadr militia. Who knows.

[Zhade]

14. Yeah, CIA is WAY more likely, IMHO.

Not that I'm saying the CIA did this, but of the two, it would be a better likelihood.

[callady]

3. 40 Dead- Violence Continues

US says bombs Qaeda house, Iraqis say 40 dead


Mon Oct 31, 3:49 AM ET

RAMADI, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. aircraft bombed a house near the Syrian border before dawn on Monday in what the military said was a precision strike on an al Qaeda leader.

A local hospital doctor in the Iraqi town of Qaim said 40 people were killed and 20 wounded, many of them women and children, and a tribal leader said there were no guerrillas in the area.

A U.S. military spokesman said the precision bombing in Karabila, close to Qaim, was meant to avoid civilian casualties.

U.S. and Iraqi officials describe Qaim and the Euphrates Valley running southeast from the Syrian border as a prime channel for foreign Islamist fighters heading for Baghdad.

http://p236.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051031/ts_nm/iraq_qaim_dc_1;_ylt=A0SOwl2UBWZDlSQARh9X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl


Seven U.S. troops killed in Iraq
Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:31 PM GMT


By Alastair Macdonald

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Seven U.S. troops were killed in three roadside bombings near Baghdad, the military said on Monday, making October the bloodiest month for Americans in Iraq since January.

In the far west, where U.S. marines have been fighting for months to stem a flow of foreign Arab fighters and funds from Syria, local doctors and tribal leaders accused American forces of killing some 40 civilians in an air strike.

The military said it knew of no civilian deaths and believed it had killed an al Qaeda leader targeted by precision bombing.

Two roadside bombings near Baghdad on Monday killed six soldiers and the military also announced the death of a Marine, who was killed by a similar device near Falluja on Sunday.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2005-10-31T153120Z_01_YUE150198_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ.xml

[maxrandb]

4. But Rush just said that all was "peachy" in Iraq

The Constitution been ratified, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Army and Police are in place, the price of oil has gone down, the economy is "booming" right along, we finally have a "strict constructionist" nominated for the SC, Democrats can't win elections so they trumped up charges to make "conservatism criminal", Dems are shaking in their boots because the indictment of Scooter Libby is a "great day for the Republican Party", there was no "underlying" crime of outing a CIA agent, and more than likely, it was Joe Wilson who committed treason.

That damn liberal media is at it again folks!! This bombing is a good thing because it shows that the insurgency is in it's last throes!! Hurricaine Katrina is not as bad as that damn liberal media has made it out to be, no one listens to CBS, NBC, or ABC anymore, because more Americans get their news from "alternative" sources like me, Newsmax, and Free Republic.

Sorry - I was just trying to see how hard it would be to think like a "Dildo-head". I made it almost two paragraphs before my head :nuke:

Seriously, he actually says shit like the above and his listeners lap it up like it was cum from "big Dick Cheney".

[sabra]

6. Car Bomb Kills 20 In Basra, Police Say

http://www.wral.com/apworldnews/5215478/detail.html

Car Bomb Kills 20 In Basra, Police Say


BASRA, Iraq -- A car bomb exploded Monday night in a commercial district of Iraq's second-largest city of Basra, killing at least 20 people and wounding about 40, a police official said.

The blast went off about 8:30 p.m. in an area filled with shops and restaurants, many of them packed with people out for the evening during Ramadan festivities, Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi.

Al-Zaidi, who said 20 were killed and 40 were wounded, added that the number of deaths was expected to rise.

Witnesses reported scenes of chaos and rescue vehicles raced to the scene. Dazed survivors, their clothing stained with blood, stumbled in the darkness or wept in despair.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. The last line tears at me

"Witnesses reported scenes of chaos and rescue vehicles raced to the scene. Dazed survivors, their clothing stained with blood, stumbled in the darkness or wept in despair."



Let freedom ring...

[saigon68]

16. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[KansDem]

8. British commandos disguised as Arabs?

Or American commandos disguised as British commandos disguised as Arabs? This is getting all too confusing! :crazy:

[Roland99]

9. But...but...but....Basra is all nice and peaceful. Nary a problem there.

BTW, where there any British- or American-looking men seen driving the car?

[Loonman]

10. Jesus

How can those bastards Bush and Cheney sleep at night?

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. After years of this it ought to be clear that there will never be peace

in Iraq if Iraq continues to be an American colony.