A DAY OF PAIN .... 140 Killed, 7 US soldiers, 100+ Mosques Attacked

[RedEarth]

At least 140 killed yesterday
In worst incident 47 killed by gunmen at roadblock. Bodies discovered in Nahrawan, on outskirts of Baghdad
At least 53 killed in Baghdad in 24 hours
At least 25 killed in Basra. Overnight 12 prisoners removed from Basra prison and 11 killed
Bomb aimed at Iraqi Army foot patrol kills 16 in Baquba, 40 miles northeast of Baghdad — 8 soldiers and 8 civilians
Also in Baquba, gunmen kill one at Sunni mosque
Bomb kills policeman, wounds four in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad
7 US soldiers killed in northern Iraq
Convoy of Iraq’s Minister of Housing and Reconstruction stoned in Samarra
Journalist for al-Arabiya TV killed with two members of her crew in Samarra
Police and army leave cancelled
Curfew hours extended in Baghdad and major cities from 8pm-6am
Road to Abu Hanifa Mosque, most important Sunni mosque in Baghdad, closed by army
Several thousand in Basra demonstrate near governing council offices
About 1,000 demonstrate in Samawa, 170 miles south of Baghdad. Police guarding Sunni mosque in the town
Leading Sunni group, the Muslim Clerics Association, blames Shia leaders for fuelling tensions
Main Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, pulls out of talks to form a new government, blaming ruling Shia alliance for violence
President Talabani, a Kurd, meets Shia leaders

The hardline Sunni Clerical Association of Muslim Scholars claimed that 168 mosques had been attacked, 10 imams killed and 15 abducted, although the figures could not be verified.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2056199,00.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. I'm sure George Bush

thought it was a great day.



President Bush gives a thumbs up sign from the steps of Air Force One as he gets ready to depart South Bend, Ind., Thursday Feb. 23, 2006. Bush was in South Bend for a fundraiser for Congressman Chris Chocola.

[hatrack]

4. "It's been a fabulous year for me and Laura"

Asshole.

[uppityperson]

2. I feel sick. eom

[acmavm]

3. How can the bush** administration criminal spin this?????????? n/t

[MadMaddie]

7. They will of course blame it on the Iraqi's...and Iran...

I think they already have....

They will not ever admit their actions have led to these events...sigh...

[uppityperson]

8. I do not think they can do the "we are needed to protect them" spin

I don't think it will work this time but they might try. f* them all

[joemurphy]

5. Welcome to democratic Iraq. Thanks Mr. President. n/t

[democrank]

6. There`s an ache in my throat.

Sweet Jesus, when will this end?

[Mind_your_head]

9. Mr. "Feels-good" (on the eve of 'war')

has absolutely NO idea what he's doing (or the larger ramifications).

[Dudley_DUright]

11. That comment when he did not know his was being filmed

tells you everything you need to know about that evil bastard and his maladministration.

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. I guess all that talk about troop reductions is about to go the way

of the flight to mars , the hydrogen economy, and Social Security reform

[Frank Cannon]

12. Man, this could almost turn into CIVIL WAR

:sarcasm:

[AbsoluteArmorer]

20. Civil War Phase II

This looks like that the silent civil war in Iraq has reached phase II .... it's a growing NeoCon cancer now festering immensely within their sectarian wars.



http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/iraq-slides-closer-to-sectarian-war/2006/02/23/1140670211656.html

Iraq slides closer to sectarian war


By Mussab Khairalla and Alastair MacDonald, Baghdad
February 24, 2006
High alert: Iraqi soldiers guarding a mosque in Baghdad stand near a sign that reads Danger, after the destruction of Samarra's Golden Mosque sparked a nationwide wave of violence.

High alert: Iraqi soldiers guarding a mosque in Baghdad stand near a sign that reads "Danger", after the destruction of Samarra's Golden Mosque sparked a nationwide wave of violence.
Iraq has cancelled all leave for the police and army and placed them on the highest alert as the death toll mounted in sectarian violence that has swept the country after bombs wrecked a major Shiite shrine.

A crisis summit called by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was thrown into doubt when the biggest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Accord Front, boycotted it in protest at what it called the Shiite-led Government's failure to protect Sunni mosques.

The Sunni Muslim Clerics Association accused Shiite clerics of fuelling the violence. The comments were a rare, if veiled, attack on Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has called for Shiite protests but also restraint.

[Virginia Dare]

13. What is happening there is an atrocity,

and there is nobody to blame but the Bush administration. This will go down as one of the darkest periods in our history. I feel certain that we are hurtling toward horrors the likes of which we have never seen. How long before we are seeing American soldiers dragged through the streets? Not long I would venture.

[spanone]

14. Thank God George Bush* Is A Fine Christian Man. We'd be Fucked otherwise

[uppityperson]

15. And he feels realllllly bad about the fighting and will hug all the moms..

[sam sarrha]

16. I hate to think what would have happened if Allah wasn't merciful today.!!

[chelsea0011]

17. The Bush response was can't we just get along and Halliburton

will get the contract to rebuild. This guy will be charged somewhere somehow for war crimes.

[Rainscents]

18. Thank God, I feel so much safer now.

Thank you, G.W.B! What a fucking moron!

[Clarkie1]

19. Along with Katrina, this is all part of Bush's legacy.

And it's only just begun.