Massacre in Baghdad -- at least 41 Sunnis killed

[Cocoa]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1168631.ece

Masked Shiite gunmen went on a rampage Sunday in western Baghdad, pulling Sunni Arabs from cars and off the street and killing at least 41 people, police said, in a dramatic escalation of sectarian violence.

The rampage in the Jihad neighborhood was in apparent retaliation for the Saturday night car bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed two and wounded nine. Sunni leaders expressed outrage over the Sunday attacks, referring to them as a "massacre."

Police and witnesses said gunmen drove into the Jihad area in four cars at about 10 a.m. and began stopping vehicles. Those with identification cards indicating Sunni names were killed, they said. An Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said Shiite militiamen wearing masks and black uniforms also roamed the neighborhood, abducting Sunnis off the street.

Their bodies were later dumped on streets throughout the neighborhood, police said. Police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said 41 bodies had been collected and taken to hospitals. He also said U.S. and Iraqi forces had sealed off the area. Witnesses said the American forces were using loudspeakers to announce a two-day curfew. Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie, a Sunni, also called the attack "a real and ugly massacre," and blamed Iraqi security forces, widely believed to have been infiltrated by Shiite militias, for failing to maintain order. "There are officers who instead of being in charge should be questioned and referred to judicial authorities," al-Zubaie told Al-Jazeera TV. "Jihad is witnessing a catastrophic crime."

more...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. Dateline Iraq: Zarqawi still reported dead.

and peace is breaking. No, wait, peace is broken. As is Iraq.

[saigon68]

10. FREEDOM is on the March

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. funny how I missed that part.

But there is a growing voice of peace, an anti-Bush gourndswell. I hope it is in time.

[brokensymmetry]

2. Now, now. Don't be negative. Report something

POSITIVE! :sarcasm:

[Cocoa]

5. well, the Sunnis have now retaliated

kind of balances it out, eh?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2F154F9D-22DA-4964-AD80-414C3738B76A.htm

[acmavm]

7. Hmmmm, gotta wonder if as Sadr is being straight with everyone or if

he's playing a real cagey and dangerous game:

(from your article)

<snip>
"I urge all government and popular forces to exercise restraint and take responsibility in front of God first and society secondly," al-Sadr said in a statement on Sunday.

He blamed Sunday's violence on a "Western plan aimed at sponsoring a civil and sectarian war between brothers".

-MORE-

[kurth]

6. FOX Breaking News: Only 41 dead, thousands of Iraqis enjoy Sunday

waiting for their turn.

[AlamoDemoc]

3. We are winning the "War on Terrah"

"My answer is 'bring them on'


:sarcasm:

[caledesi]

4. Civil War? Like Murtha said? Like Dean said?

Memo to MSM: Please don't use the term civil war and don't refer to Murtha or Dean.
:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

8. update: mosque bombings kill at least 61

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/iraq;_ylt=Av_p.Hv06IU6kNG_Bkr5Ybis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-


Baghdad massacre, mosque bombings kill at least 61

by Sam Dagher Sun Jul 9, 1:52 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Bands of masked gunmen went on a rampage in a predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood, killing at least 42 Sunni Arabs in a gruesome sectarian attack despite a massive security crackdown, witnesses said.


The apparent response to the attacks was swift, with at least 19 people killed and 59 wounded in two powerful car bombs next to a Shiite mosque in a mixed neighbourhood of the predominantly Sunni district of Adhamiyah on the capital's north side, an interior ministry official said.

The Sunni killings began in the western neighborhood of Jihad when gunmen set up checkpoints and started shooting people based on their ID cards, witnesses said........

[mvd]

9. Unfortunately..

the tension continues and more die. :-(

[Divine Discontent]

11. this is outta control (sarcasm)

been there... and done that. this continuation of repeated weekly attacks where dozens die is ABHORENT, Bush is to blame for this, this wasn't going on before we INVADED.

could you just IMAGINEEEEEEEE the siege on the people in that neighborhood? having them come up to you in your car, drag you out and shoot you? so evil.




www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- check them and others out!

[screenplaya]

12. It is PROGRESS.

[slackmaster]

13. Freedom fighters on the march!

They'll have those evil Westerners out of their country in no time flat.

They're the moral equivalent of the French Resistance, I tell ya.

[bleedingheart]

15. nope...that's not civil war...

:sarcasm: