I heard a pollster who worked for Bremer in Iraq state that: 85% of Iraqis think that "It is worth it", despite all the war/turmoil/terrorist activity that has transpired since March of 2003.
Posted on 07/28/2004 12:59:22 AM PDT by HAL9000
A SUICIDE attacker killed at least 30 people when he exploded a bomb-laden vehicle outside a central Baqouba police station today, a top police official said.The US military said 20 people had been killed.
General Walid al-Azawi, chief of police in Diyala Province, said at least 30 people were killed in the suicide bomb attack outside the al-Najda police station in central Baqouba, 55km north-east of Baghdad.
General Al-Azawi told The Associated Press that the suicide attacker drove his car into a crowd of people gathering outside the al-Najda police near concrete barriers to register for police jobs.
US Army Captain Marshall Jackson said he was aware of 20 people dying in the attack, which he said took place "in the heart of Baqouba" near a police station, government buildings and a crowded market place.
"It looked to be a white truck that just parked right in the heart of this area, right across the police station and blew up," Captain Jackson told The Associated Press. "Right now it doesn't look great. It's all civilians casualties at this stage."
Ali Hassan, in charge of the morgue at the Baqouba General Hospital, said between 20-30 Iraqis were killed in the blast.
Another hospital official, Hussein Ali, said at least 55 people were injured.
Numerous ambulances converged on the scene and ferried the dead and injured to the nearby hospital while police sealed off the area surrounding the attacked police station, preventing large crowds or onlookers, including the media, from approaching the building.
The al-Najda station is also used as a recruiting centre for Iraqis wanting to join the police.
Baqouba has been the scene of regular anti-coalition attacks since US-led forces invaded Iraq in March, 2003, but fighters have also targeted Iraqi police forces, who are regarded as easier targets than the better equipped American troops.
On July 19, a fuel tanker truck ploughed toward a police station in south-west Baghdad, detonating and killing at least nine people and wounding more than 60 people.
One day very soon these cold-blooded killers of the innocent are going to find themselves face to face with the One who made every man, woman and child in His image.
Things are going to be quite warm for them.
God bless all of those Americans and Iraqis who are risking life and limb every day in defense of those innocents.
Suicide attacker explodes car bomb outside Iraqi police station, kills 51
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A huge explosion caused by a suicide car bomb tore through police and government buildings in central Baqouba on Wednesday, killing 51 people and injuring scores more, U.S. military and Iraqi health officials said.
At least 40 people were wounded by the blast outside the al-Najda police station, which was being used as a police recruiting center, in the turbulent city about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, according to Saad al-Amili, a Health Ministry official. He said 51 people were killed.
U.S. Army Capt. Marshall Jackson was aware of 20 people dying in the blast caused by an explosives-filled white truck "right in the heart of Baqouba."
"Basically there's a police station in the area, government buildings in the area ... little shops, fruit stands, basically where all the action takes place," Jackson, from the Army's 3rd Brigade in Baqouba, told The Associated Press.
An Iraqi hospital official, Hussein Ali, said at least 55 people were injured.
"Right now it doesn't look great. It's all civilians casualties at this stage," Jackson said.
The blast destroyed nearby shops and turned cars into mangled, burned out wrecks. Charred and dismembered bodies lay in a street amid pools of blood, building debris and shattered glass.
The body of one victim lay underneath a slab of concrete, while emergency crews carried the bodies of injured and slain victims into waiting ambulances.
Baqouba has been the scene of regular anti-coalition attacks since U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in March, 2003, but fighters have also targeted Iraqi police forces, who are regarded as easier targets than the better equipped American troops.
On July 19, a fuel tanker truck plowed toward a police station in southwest Baghdad, detonating and killing at least nine people and wounding more than 60 people.
Iraqi officials expect attacks to continue and intensify as the country tries to edge toward democracy; they anticipate that the national conference, expected before the end of this month, to be a major terror target.
Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed and three others injured while on patrol in northern Iraq, the military said Wednesday.
The soldiers, from the 1st Infantry Division, were traveling in an armored Humvee when the bomb detonated late Tuesday in the town of Balad-Ruz, about 40 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to army spokesman Master Sgt. Robert Powell.
The force of the blast severely damaged the vehicle, killing one soldier, Powell said. Three injured soldiers were hospitalized in stable conditions.
The death of the soldier, whose identity hasn't been released yet, raises the toll of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq to 905 since the war began, according to an Associated Press tally.
In the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, gunmen in a car shot dead local policeman Udai Saddam as he waited for a taxi to get to work, Iraqi police official Col. Sarhat Qadr said. The attackers fled the scene.
Qadr also said that two men trying to plant a bomb on an oil pipeline near Kirkuk were killed early Wednesday when the explosive device detonated prematurely.
He said no damage was caused to the pipeline in the Kibrit region, about 28 miles northwest of Kirkuk.
Amid the violence, Iraq's early steps toward democratic reform have been taking place.
The national conference for 1,000 delegates to choose an interim assembly would begin Saturday organizers announced Tuesday, widely considered a vital step toward democracy in a nation struggling to deal with a persistent campaign of kidnappings and other violence.
Coalition troops and interior ministry forces will assist authorities in protecting the three-day event.
The conference, stipulated under a law enacted by the former U.S. occupation authority, was to have been concluded by the end of July, but it had to be delayed because preparations were behind schedule, conference chair Fuad Masoum said.
"There was an idea put forward by the United Nations to delay the conference because of a lack of preparation, from technical and other perspectives," Masoum said. "We don't want to go ahead without the U.N."
The United Nations wanted a longer delay, which organizers vetoed.
"Creating the conditions for a successful outcome to the conference is more important than holding it on time," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in New York.
ABC Radio just said 50 dead
Every time they do this, they set the effort back. Words cannot convey how much I despise these cowardly terrorists.
I hate to see them shattering innocent Iraqi families. All these people want is to have decent jobs in a peaceful, democratic environment. Just like us.
Anybody have a US casualty count for this month? The rate has plummetted and at this rate I suspect the number won't hit 1000 by election day.
This is terrible. It's hard to imagine how people could do something like that to other people who are just going about their business and trying to do the best they can.
I would really like to see these incidents getting more coverage here in the US, with an emphasis on how cowardly and despicable the killers are and how they are trying to destroy the hopes of the Iraqi people for a good life in a modern, stable country. We get way too little coverage of these events, and what we do get is sort of offhand and careless. It should be the kind of coverage that gets Americans mad at these terrorists and increases our resolve and sympathy for the Iraqi people.
53 killed in July according to DoD information, an increase over June.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties_july04.htm
IMHO these incidents get FAR too much coverage and what doesn't get enough coverage is all the good things we are doing over there. This attack, coming in the middle of the democratic convention, is far too suspicious for my taste. It is certainly a possibility that this was arranged to assist the Kerry campaign.
I'd say the timing is very suspicious.
Sorry, I'd have to disagree on many levels. I do not believe that 'most' Iraqis want democracy. If left to their own devices I truly believe they'll be right back looking for another Saddam. Democracy is not in their culture or their blood.
Historically some peoples have always been ruled and seem to want to be ruled rather than have a representative democratic government. It isn't meant for every one and even the founders knew that.
Suicide Car Bombing Kills 68 Iraqis
12 minutes ago
By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomb exploded outside a police recruiting center in central Baqouba on Wednesday, killing 68 Iraqis and turning the city's busy streets into a bloody tangle of twisted metal and bodies.
AP Photo
Reuters Photo
Slideshow: Iraq
Iraqi Militants Seize Four New Foreign Hostages
(AP Video)
Latest headlines:
· Suicide Car Bombing Kills 68 Iraqis
AP - 12 minutes ago
· Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 68 in Iraq Attack
Reuters - 20 minutes ago
· Freed Egyptian diplomat says remorse moved his Iraqi captors
AFP - 21 minutes ago
Special Coverage
The attack, which killed 21 people inside a passing bus, was the deadliest bombing in Iraq (news - web sites) since the United States transferred sovereignty to an interim government June 28.
The bombing was part of an intense surge in violence over the past 24 hours: 35 insurgents and seven Iraqi police were killed in clashes southeast of Baghdad, a U.S. soldier was killed in a bomb attack, and a police officer was assassinated.
Iraqi officials — who said they expected attacks to intensify as the country tries to edge toward democracy — feared a key national conference scheduled for Saturday would be a major target for attack.
"The terrorists' goal is to hamper the police work, terrorize our citizens and show that the government is unable to protect the Iraqi people, and this will not happen," said Hamid al-Beyati, a deputy foreign minister.
The 10:13 a.m. bombing in Baqouba, a turbulent city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, shattered the bustling heart of a commercial district filled with shops, fruit stands, government buildings and the police station.
The street was filled with charred vehicles, pieces of glass, twisted metal and abandoned shoes, all covered in blood and human remains. Bodies lay in the middle of the road, under cars, up against nearby buildings. A white metal security gate outside a shop was stained red with blood. The white bus on which 21 passengers were killed was a charred husk.
"It's all civilian casualties at this stage," U.S. Army Capt. Marshall Jackson said.
Witnesses said the bomb targeted men waiting outside the al-Najda police station trying to sign up for the force.
"These were all innocent Iraqis, there were no Americans," on angry man shouted at the scene.
The blast killed 68 people and wounded 56 others, according to Saad al-Amili, a Health Ministry official.
The local hospital was overwhelmed with the casualties. Every bed was filled, forcing many of the injured to sit on the floor, amid pools of blood, as they were treated by frantic health workers. One injured man sat against the wall, holding his head in his hands and weeping.
The bombing was the deadliest insurgent attack in Iraq since June 24, when coordinated attacks in north and central Iraq killed 89 people, including three U.S. soldiers. On April 21, five suicide bombings near police stations and police academy in southern city of Basra killed 74 people and wound 160 others. A coordinated attack on Shiite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad on March 2 killed at least 181.
In other violence, 35 insurgents and seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in early morning clashes in the city of Suwariyah southeast of Baghdad, Polish Lt. Col. Artur Domanski, a multinational force spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
Another 10 soldiers from the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the joint operation with U.S. Army special forces and Ukrainian troops, he said. No coalition troops were injured in the operation that also led to the capture of 40 insurgents, he said.
A U.S. soldier was killed and three others injured late Tuesday when a roadside bomb severely damaged their armored Humvee while they were on patrol in the town of Balad-Ruz, about 65 kilometers northwest of Baghdad, according to army spokesman Master Sgt. Robert Powell.
The death of the soldier, whose identity has not been released, raised the toll of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq to 905 since the war began, according to an Associated Press tally.
A separate roadside bombing in Balad-Ruz late Tuesday injured nine Iraqi civilians, according to Baqouba General Hospital official Abbas Fadhil.
On Wednesday, an explosion tore through the densely populated Baghdad suburb of Rahmaniya, killing one person and injuring five, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Two cars were seen burning and a building was damaged in the area, located on the northern edge of Baghdad's Green Zone, the fortified enclave housing Iraq's interim government and the U.S. and British embassies.
A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that an explosion had been reported to the north of the Green Zone, but he was unaware of its source.
In the turbulent city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a mortar apparently fired toward a U.S. base struck an apartment building, killing one Iraqi woman and injuring seven other people, according to Dr. Alaa al-Aani from Ramadi hospital.
In the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, gunmen in a car killed policeman Udai Saddam as he waited for a taxi to get to work, Iraqi police official Col. Sarhat Qadr said. The attackers fled the scene.
Qadr also said that two men trying to plant a bomb on an oil pipeline near Kirkuk were killed early Wednesday when it detonated prematurely. No damage was caused to the pipeline in the Kibrit region, about 28 miles northwest of Kirkuk, he said.
In another bombing in Baqouba, a car rigged with explosives detonated Tuesday evening, killing the driver, the U.S. military said.
Amid the violence, Iraq has been trying to take its first steps toward democratic reform.
A crucial national conference for 1,000 delegates to choose an interim assembly, widely considered a vital step toward democracy, will begin Saturday organizers announced Tuesday.
The conference, stipulated under a law enacted by the former U.S. occupation authority, was to have been concluded by the end of July, but it had to be delayed because preparations were behind schedule, conference chair Fuad Masoum said.
Iraq's persistent insurgency pushed a Jordanian company working for the U.S. military here to announce Tuesday it was withdrawing from Iraq to secure the release of two Jordanian employees kidnapped by militants.
Fayez Saad al-Udwan and Mohammad Ahmed Salama Hussein al-Manaya'a were abducted Monday by a group calling itself the Mujahedeen Corps in Iraq. The group warned the Jordanians would be killed within 72 hours unless their employer pulled out of the country and stopped cooperating with U.S forces.
The decision by Daoud and Partners — a private company providing construction and catering services to the U.S. military — came hours after al-Manaya'a's father threatened to "chop off the head" of the firm's chief executive if he did not comply.
Another militant cell, calling itself "The Group of Death," released a video statement saying it would close the highway linking Iraq to Jordan in 72 hours from 1 p.m. Tuesday in a bid to disrupt supply lines to U.S. forces. The group said it would also target Jordanian truckers bringing in goods to the country.
Militants have kidnapped more than 70 foreigners, mainly truck drivers, in recent months as part of the 15-month-old insurgency.
______
AP correspondents Sameer Yacoub and Jamie Tarabay in Baghdad contributed to this report.
The Iraqis need to get off their butts and start catching these scum. Once we pull out, the Iraqis will be the ones who have to live with the consequences of their cowardice.
IRAQ GOES UNILATERAL!
just saw that Yahoo! had it too as 68 ... amazing ... what it must be like to live in the middle of such ...
look at the Sudan, Afghanistan, Algeria, "palestine", Ethiopia, Uganda and what they've done there ... not to mention the dozen or so other countries ...
These people have to be rooted out. I think they need to report ANY Saddamites to the police so they can be watched and any foreigners. I know it's intrusive, but considering the situation, they need to find these guys and kill them.
I do believe the fuel tanker will be the next AQ attack weapon in America.
that has been my belief too ...
Fortunately, law enforcement also shares this view. It would be easy to ram a tanker into a sort target, but rather hard to coordinate a large number of such incidents. Americans would react within a few minutes, once a series started.
I heard a pollster who worked for Bremer in Iraq state that: 85% of Iraqis think that "It is worth it", despite all the war/turmoil/terrorist activity that has transpired since March of 2003.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.