42 die in series of attacks across Iraq

[Bensthename]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber penetrated tight security to strike an Iraqi military base on Sunday in the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed at least 42 people across Iraq. In Baghdad, the U.S.-protected Green Zone came under heavy fire by rockets or mortar rounds.

Seven people also were killed and 14 wounded in a suicide car bombing in the Shiite area of Shula in the capital.

The attacks underscored the fragility of Iraq's security, despite a decline in violence over the past year. They also came as the U.S. military death toll in Iraq nears 4,000.

Weekend raids across Iraq resulted in 17 insurgents killed and 30 detained, the U.S. military said. The deadliest was an operation Sunday targeting a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba that killed 12 armed men, the military said.

Iraqi police reported a dozen civilians killed in an airstrike in the same area. But the military said those killed in the raid were insurgents, including six who had shaved their bodies apparently in preparation for suicide operations.

In the northwestern city of Mosul, Iraqi security forces opened fire on the suicide bomber as he drove toward a military base but were unable to foil the attack because the truck's windshield had been made bulletproof. An Iraqi army officer who described the attack spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

The attacker blasted past an armored vehicle to reach the courtyard of the military headquarters, the officer said.

Police said at least 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 42 people wounded — 30 soldiers and 12 civilians — in the attack. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been described by the U.S. as the last urban stronghold of the Sunni-led al-Qaida in Iraq.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq gave a slightly lower toll of 12 Iraqi soldiers killed and 35 wounded.

Shiite extremists were suspected to be behind the barrages against the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government headquarters.

About 10 detonations were heard starting shortly before 6 a.m in the sprawling area in central Baghdad. Several other mortars or rockets slammed into the area throughout the day.


More on the link provided


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080323/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

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This is terrible. What a monster this mess has created.

[xchrom]

1. some body didn't get the ''surge'' memo.

it's all a nightmare.

[panader0]

2. When will the MSM drop the meme that the surge is working?

McCain has made the surge the foundation of his candidacy, and never misses a chance to tout it's success.

[Hawaii Hiker]

3. New York Times has total dead at at least 51

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html?hp

[ohio2007]

4. the more they talk about the drop in violence in Iraq. the more violence seems to get reported

snip
Weekend raids across Iraq resulted in 17 insurgents killed and 30 detained, the U.S. military said. The deadliest was an operation Sunday targeting a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba that killed 12 armed men, the military said.
snip

If they stop the raids..... the violence against Iraqi's should stop.

in theory.


Detainee Release Ceramony - Post Media Reply
Detainee release ceremony at COP 306, formally known as COP Apache. Scenes include speeches, interviews and the ceremony.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=da9_1206279670

how many of those "30 detained" took an oath not to return to the insurgency ?

[swag]

5. Fierce Attack on Green Zone as Violence Erupts in Iraq

Source: New York Times

BAGHDAD — As many as 20 mortar shells were fired at the heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday, one of the fiercest and most sustained attacks on the area in the last year.

The shelling sent thick plumes of dark gray smoke over central Baghdad and ignited a spectacular fire on the banks of the Tigris River, ushering in a day of violence that claimed the lives of at least 58 lraqis around the country and added to the sense that insurgent and sectarian violence have been on the rise in recent weeks.

Bush Administration officials have said repeatedly that an increase in troops has reduced violence to the point that political and sectarian reconciliation is becoming a reality. The administration has withdrawn some of the reinforcements and is assessing the effect of that reduction before withdrawing further troops, a decision expected in the next week.

But recent statistics compiled by the Pentagon suggest that after dropping significantly last fall, the number of daily attacks remained static from November through January, the last month for which official figures are available. And that relative calm has been pierced by a flareup of violence in recent weeks.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

[uppityperson]

6. darn those statistics. k&r for Iraqis

[SpiralHawk]

9. "Don't worry, I am perfectly safe and enjoying another long weekend - Commander AWOL

"You know, I'm just kicking back on the links and having a hootin good time. So no need to fret about me. Oooops, I almost forgot my republicon homelander propaganda talking point: 'too bad about all the dead and maimed people and the fires, and the SURGING gas prices, and collapsing economy and environment and stuff. Evil is, um, expensive.' Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[Olney Blue]

12. "Now watch this drive"

[Xipe Totec]

7. From the Shiite-dominated Baladiyat neighborhood

Although the source of the attacks could not be determined conclusively, two witnesses said the early morning rounds were fired across the river from the Shiite-dominated Baladiyat neighborhood by a group of militia men who the witnesses believed belonged to the Mahdi Army, founded by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

The Shiites are supposed to be out our side...

And so much for blaming Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

[tekisui]

10. Is the cease fire nearing an end?

Al-Sadr has held the "surge" propaganda together. I don't think it was because it benefited chimpy and his ilk. Is the nearing an end of the cease fire?

[bluestateguy]

8. The "I Told You So" war continues

and I have no shame in saying those four words either.

[goodgd_yall]

11. I'm waiting for the pronouncement:

"The surge is not working."

[sofa king]

13. Sheeit.

Like those assholes in the White House and the Pentagon have any fucking thing to do with lessening the violence. They lost the initiative as soon as formal Iraqi resistance collapsed. They have no control whatsoever over what fight is picked then; they can only react.

The insurgents are much more likely doing just what Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap did in Vietnam: husband their forces for the right time, specifically a general election year in the U.S. ending in the number "8," and then unload with everything they have and keep the pressure up until the fall. Their object will be to make this the bloodiest and most costly summer yet; there's no need for a "victory" and they'd be foolish to seek one, as Giap did. Iranian-backed insurgents have no other objective than to tie up troops in Iraq, the more the better, to prevent a last-minute new war like Poppy Bush handed President-elect Clinton in Somalia (but Dick Cheney thinks on a much larger scale).

I think it's likely that the insurgents are finally running low on their stock of half a million artillery shells, used to make IEDs, which our forces unwisely left unguarded in the initial invasion and which were offloaded and dispersed throughout the country. I think they effectively took 2007 off as a result, and probably plan to use all of what they have left this summer.

[Massachusetts]

14. FUBAR!

This "thing" doesn't end with a whimper.
OUR Troops continue to be misused and abused by "The Commander in Chief"

The Draft must be reinstated with a LEVEL playing field, You would then hear the deafening outcry of opposition and the elected pols would have no choice but to honor the request of the majority.

[Javaman]

15. Pieces on the march. nt

[Supersedeas]

16. surely the GoP Cable Media has something else to focus upon