Iraq Attacks Kill 27, Including 2 U.S. GIs

[Fenris]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Bomb blasts and gunfire killed at least 27 people, including two U.S. soldiers, in Baghdad and nearby towns Sunday as an emergency daylight curfew was lifted in three provinces following the bombing of a Shiite shrine and a wave of retribution against Sunnis.

<...>

A 24-hour vehicular ban remained in effect in Baghdad and its suburbs as authorities tried to halt the violence that has killed nearly 200 people since the Shiites' Askariya shrine was destroyed Wednesday in Samarra. But pedestrians were allowed back in the street for the first time since Friday.

All traffic restrictions were lifted in the strife-prone provinces of Diyala, Babil and Salahuddin, where the shrine is located.

<...>

Two U.S. soldiers were killed early Sunday when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad, the military said. At least 2,289 service members have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

<...>

Yahoo

There's a lot of interesting and disturbing numbers in the story.

[AlamoDemoc]

1. ...and this article from the BBC website

Baghdad mortar barrage kills 16

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4753084.stm

[AlamoDemoc]

2. here's more

snip

Salah al-Mutluq, who heads the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, told the BBC a new security plan had been worked out by Sunni and Shia leaders that could help relieve tensions

It involved removing Shia-dominated interior ministry forces, including police, from sensitive Sunni areas.

Instead, these districts would be patrolled by the Iraqi army and multinational troops, he said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4753084.stm

[deadparrot]

3. RIP.

...

[MrPrax]

4. Great Marx quote BTW n/t

[saigon68]

5. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[IndianaGreen]

6. BBC: Baghdad mortar barrage kills 16

Baghdad mortar barrage kills 16

A barrage of mortar attacks in southern Baghdad has killed at least 16 Iraqis and injured more than 40.
A police source told the BBC that a total of eight mortars had been fired into the mainly Shia area of Doura.

The attacks come after days of sectarian tensions that have left at least 165 dead since Wednesday.

Political and militia leaders say they have made progress in talks to curb the violence that was sparked by the bombing of a major Shia shrine.

<snip>

The mortar rounds were fired into the neighbourhood of Doura - first into residential streets and then at a fruit market.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4753084.stm

[PassingFair]

7. Soon to be 3,000 that they will ADMIT to.

Lovely.
If I had more nerve, I'd post the numbers in my window...but my kids take
enough crap for the stickers on the car....

[cal04]

8. Mortars Slam Into Baghdad Neighborhoods

Violence killed at least 29 people Sunday, including three American soldiers, and mortar fire rumbled through the heart of Baghdad after sundown despite stringent security measures imposed after an explosion of sectarian violence.

A ban on driving in Baghdad and its suburbs helped prevent major attacks during daylight Sunday, but after nightfall explosions thundered through the city as mortar shells slammed into a Shiite quarter in southwestern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 53, police said.

Mortar fire also hit a Shiite area on the capital's east side, killing three people and injuring six, police reported.
Nevertheless, officials announced they would let vehicles back on the streets at 6 a.m. Monday — in part because shops were running out of food and other basics. Gasoline stations were closed, and people were unable to go to work Sunday, a work day in this Muslim country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[Geo55]

9. Shhhhhush....NOT Vietnam.......(doesn't rain as much)

....an' the clusterfuck rolls on.

not a level in hell DEEP enough for our sick leadership (ALL of 'em)

[0007]

10. Pile 'em high and then highter

Grass Bush

Pile the bodies high in Austerlitz and Waterloo Iraq
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; bush; I cover all.

And pile them high in Gettyburg Baghdad
And pile them high in Ypres and Vedum Mossoul and Al Fallaujah

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?

I am the grass bush.
Let me work.

Carl Sandburg


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