Posted on 05/16/2004 11:21:41 PM PDT by yonif
Edited on 05/16/2004 11:26:20 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Update as of 05/17/04 02:17 ET
BAGHDAD, May 17 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Monday near a U.S. base in western Baghdad and there were several casualties, witnesses at the scene said.
Cars were on fire and a large column of thick black smoke rose into the sky. U.S. troops blocked off the area.
A U.S. military spokesman said he had no immediate information about the blast, which echoed across central Baghdad.
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- The current head of the interim governing council in Iraq was killed in a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Al Jazeera reported, citing a council member.
Izzedine Salim, the holder of the council's rotating presidency, was killed in the attack on his four-car convoy near a U.S. base west of Baghdad, said Mohammed Othman, a governing council member, the Qatar-based station reported.
The station showed footage of a car on fire with billowing smoke as U.S. helicopters roamed above and sirens wailed. U.S. troops cordoned off the area in the center of Baghdad, the station said. There was an explosion at a checkpoint near the so- called green zone, where the U.S. has its headquarters in Baghdad, said an American military spokeswoman who declined to be further identified. She gave no more details.
The U.S.-Led Coalition in Iraq is planning to hand over power to the U.S.-chosen council on June 30 that will pave the way to the creation of an interim government.
The Iraqis get to put Saddam on trial? And what if we get another OJ trial? Letting the perp walk?
It will be "the trial of the century". I hope it isn't the mistrial of the century.
A number of G8 nations would have rather kept their business dealings with Iraq (including military) instead of going to war against that dictator who mocked the UN and its resolutions for a decade.
There were no terrorists in Iraq? Well someone on the opposing side sure seems to have found a good contact to them.
As someone else said, this hit was planned. They've probably been planning to take him out for sometime (no idea of how many unsuccessful attempts were made or plots foiled). No lone nut here.
The bad guys only have to be right once to do a lot of damage. The good guys have to be right everytime. Also the bad guys can take out innocent civilians (by mistake or to make sure they hit the target) and the press never puts the blame on them (or charges them with war crimes).
And yet people keep asking how much longer we have to be in Iraq.
TIME TO NUKE SUNNI TRIANGLE ! NOW>
IT WORKed in JAPAN.
And because it won't change a thing.
My tentative guess is that this was not the work of Sunnis, but rather Shiites. The guy who was assassinated was the head of a key Shiite group and this looks like an internal power struggle type of thing. I would bet that Al Sadr or someone like him is more likely responsible.
Or foreign terrorists. That's also a distinct possibility.
foreign terrorists - but your other point on Sadr may well be part of it, considering he answers to Iran.
Hey, the road to stability and democracy, given Iraq's history, isn't going to be smooth. I wonder what the security situation was to allow this to happen - was their no protection for this fellow?
You make a great point. Either the bad guys got extremely lucky or someone in the provisional authority is leaking information to them. The timing just seems too precise for a random carbombing.
The nation was at war.
Iraq is not at war with us, only some terrorists.
If we nuke Iraq, the nation will then be at war with us, and the situation will grow worse.
U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, left, and U.S, soldiers survey the site where the head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad, Iraq , Monday, May 17, 2004. Izzadine Saleem was among nine Iraqis killed in the blast. (AP Photo/Ramzi Haidar, Pool)
US soldiers, Iraqi police officers and civilians survey the site where the head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad, Iraq , Monday, May 17, 2004. Izzadine Saleem was among nine Iraqis killed in the blast. (AP Photo/Ramzi Haidar, Pool).
And, the plot thickens.
Oh man.....
Gotta be an inside job. They knew right where to hit.
"sorry for the rant, I'm fed up with these kind ..."
That's what terrorism is.
It's an attack on the willpower and strength of a democratic Government.
It wouldnt be terrorism if it didnt lead you to despair.
I know I should care but I almost dont. We never thinned back the terroritst herd. Big let down Mr. Bush.
It sure is frustrating.
Al Zarqawi did it. He's in Iraq... we need to get him, and if we did, that would go a longway towards ending these attacks.
let us remember:
The strength of a tyranny is found in its leaders.
The strength of a democracy is found in its citizens.
true ...
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