Bombs, clashes in Baghdad after PM vows control

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Gunmen clashed with Iraqi troops and car bombs killed five people in central Baghdad, including at the city's well-loved pet market, on Friday after the prime minister said his forces could take over from Americans in June.

Three people were killed and 22 wounded, police said, when a car blasted the Ghazil market an hour before a regular traffic curfew came into force to protect worshippers at weekly prayers.

The market, a popular weekend spectacle, sells a raucous, colourful range of creatures, from guard dogs and monkeys to parrots, pigeons and tropical fish.

Nearby, Iraqi soldiers clashed with gunmen in the Fadhil district, a stronghold of Sunni militants, police said. Three soldiers and five civilians were wounded.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC128360.htm

U.S. forces kill 2 insurgents in Baghdad(and wound Iraqi woman accused of being human sheild)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061201/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[ClintonTyree]

1. Business as usual.....

The point that everyone in our government keeps missing is that the Iraqi soldiers and Police DON'T WANT to take control of the situation. They run in the other direction whenever it comes to a showdown with the "insurgents" who are quite possibly their neighbors or relatives.
For 3 years now the U.S. has been training Iraqi soldiers and police to take up the battle. Bush says we have to train and equip the Iraqis better so they can take over. How long does it take to train them? The U.S. Army can train a soldier to be combat ready in a few months but in 3 years we still haven't trained an Iraqi army? The only logical conclusion is that they don't WANT to fight against their own countrymen, they don't WANT to do America's dirty work for them, and who can blame them?
If we're going to wait until the Iraqi army is "ready" to take over the fight we're NEVER going to get the hell out of there. If the U.S. was to withdraw I believe there would be an almost instantaneous ebbing of violence and then perhaps the Iraqi army and police COULD get a grip on things.
But I guess we'll never know as long as "the decider" insists upon some sort of nebulous "victory" that only he knows the definition of.

[ECH1969]

3. You are wrong

The police and the Army are extentions of the death squads and join up so they kill Sunnis.

[ClintonTyree]

4. Yeah, sure....

whatever you say. :eyes:

[Javaman]

2. Come on, is this idiot maliki PM of anything other than the green zone????

pul-eeeze.