Posted on 09/30/2004 3:35:11 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents detonated two bombs near a convoy of U.S. military vehicles in southern Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 33 people and wounding scores more, Iraqi police said.
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They said the first blast was probably caused by a car bomb. A second bomb detonated shortly afterwards, as U.S. troops tried to help those hit in the first explosion.
A policeman at the scene said he had counted at least 33 bodies and said around 50 people were wounded in the explosions. Local hospital officials said they were inundated with casualties.
It was not immediately clear how many of the victims were Iraqi or American.
The U.S. military had no immediate information on the attack.
The attack came shortly after a suicide car bomb blast west of Baghdad in which two Iraqi police and a U.S. soldier were killed. Doctors said as many as 60 people were wounded in that attack, including women and children.
U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces are targeted almost daily in car bomb blasts and other attacks carried out by insurgents in a nearly 18-month-long uprising against the U.S. presence in Iraq (news - web sites) and the interim Iraqi government.
Not looking good at all . .
We need to get these Iraqis trained as fast as possible and leave.
There is no "winning" this thing. We cannot fight on Arab terms, they are too good at creating bedlam.
It's fine if you want to be a coward, but don't piss on the hard work of our brave servicemembers in the process.
I'm waitng for Nov 3rd. We have no levity now and the bastards know it.
You have to ask - who would these terrorists vote for in the US Presidential elections?
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GET your histeria under control, and keep it OFF of FR! There is no place for that attitude on this fine Website!
LLS
This particular event does not sound good for our troops and the IRAQ populace. Remember who is in office; President Bush, not algore,jfk jr.. or bill. Also, we are training and equipping thousands of the locals monthly and they are being deployed....We are winning.
If you noticed the Israeli's have learned since then and respond with force and quickness. We also are doing the same; we don't receive the news when we do respond other than our fine media reports women and children died in our ill conceived retaliation.
Never forget; this is a war.....AND WE ARE WINNING! Have faith and pray for our troops and President.
The timing is not coincidental with the debates starting tonight and the subject Iraq and foreign policy. These attacks are aimed at US public opinion.
Yes, we are getting very close to the American elections. You can tell by how much the jihadis want to persuade us through our own pathetic MSM to abandon our project in Iraq.
The Israeli's are also packing their bags and leaving Gaza as well as walling themselves off from the zoo.
How can the media report this drivel? Isn't there a ribbon cutting going on somewhere they can talk about instead?
LOL! Well, you gave me a moment of levity.
I will concede the enemy believes (wrongly) that we have no leverage now.
I see you have been posting your defeatist garbage all over the place for quite a while know. Are you an Islamic terrorist or just a DU'er?
"This is how the Arabs drove Israel out of Lebanon. We need to get these Iraqis trained as fast as possible and leave. There is no "winning" this thing. We cannot fight on Arab terms, they are too good at creating bedlam."
Take a hike pal. Is your cheerleading dress a little tight?
We're not all robots here. When I'm concerned I express it, when I'm cynical I'll express it. Some of the best responses come from Freepers who address the concerns with good, insightful commentary.
"There is no "winning" this thing. We cannot fight on Arab terms, they are too good at creating bedlam."
Yes we can and we will. This is desperation on their part. Throughout history, insurgencies stemming from growing democracies never win.
yes, Zarf is, quite right in many ways -- as freepers in Iraq will testify.
At the moment we are not winning the war in Iraq. And we will not win it while the pustule of Fallujah is allowed to fester.
While it looks like American forces will go in there after November, I hope and pray it will not be too late. We needed decisive action in April, we vacillated -- as Gen. Conway pointed out -- and are now paying the price.
The hearts and minds campaign is in the doldrums, perhaps because the Iraqi people were unjustified in their expectations of a quick fix, but also because of the way in which the situation is being handled by the interim government. There is a lack of direction, perhaps even of balls, and an element of bumbling and hand-wringing that needs to be addressed quickly.
What will lose this for us is if elections go ahead only in part of the country. Donald Rumsfeld is completely mistaken in his analysis that a third of the country can vote later.
That would effectively leave the Sunni minority feeling disenfranchised. As the wielders of privilege under Saddam, they feel they will be punished by the Shia majority if it takes power. A government entirely filled with Shi'ites would probably see the Sunnis pitch the country into fullscale civil war.
I think the situation is retrievable, and that progress is baing made in some areas -- but we must recognise the failings that are happening in Iraq. To pretend they do not exist is foolish in the extreme and will only serve to hurt our reputation on the right as the upholders of common sense....
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