"Al-CIA-Duh" right on schedule:
"Blasts rip Iraq, leaving at least 63 people dead" December 23, 2011|By Jack Healy
BAGHDAD - A series of explosions ripped through Iraq’s capital yesterday, in an ominous turn for a country already reeling from a deepening political and sectarian crisis that erupted after the departure of the US military. It was Baghdad’s deadliest day in more than a year.
The attacks began at 6:30 a.m. and transformed the morning commute into a bloodbath. Car bombs and improvised explosives destroyed schools, markets, and apartments. An ambulance packed with explosives incinerated a government office. At least 63 people were killed and 185 wounded.
Four more blasts shook Baghdad last night, killing three more.
There were fears that the precipitous withdrawal of US troops might lead to instability in Iraq, but the speed with which conditions have deteriorated has alarmed Western officials.
Well, once you realize who is really behind "terror" attacks this whole thing reads like agenda-pushing bullshit from a mouthpiece.
Yup, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE SERVED EACH MORNING for NEWS, dear readers.
Imagine, if you will, a conscientious, caring person living in rural New England waking up and peeling open his newspaper wanting to learn about the world and what is happening in it and being subjected to this shit day after fucking day.
Until yesterday, however, the bitter fighting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite, and his political foes in Parliament had not been accompanied by a rise in violence.
But this round of bombings makes clear that a still potent insurgency, in abeyance for some time, remains capable of mounting attacks that can undermine the fragile government and pit Sunnis against Shi’ites.
Intelligence agency assets left behind.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks yesterday, but they appeared similar to others conducted by the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group, Al Qaeda in Iraq....
Uh-huh, except you guys are spelling it wrong. It's "Al-CIA-Duh."
Families lingering in hospital rooms blamed the political elite for bickering while civilians were dying.
That's one thing Iraqis and Americans have in common.
Near the scene of the deadliest bombing, a woman hobbled to the hospital on bloodied legs. When a man assisting her urged her into an ambulance, she said, “I don’t want anything from the government.’’
A day earlier, Maliki added new tensions to the political climate by threatening to discard Iraq’s fragile power-sharing government. He has never liked the US-backed arrangement, which yokes Iraq’s Sunnis, Shi’ites, and Kurds into one awkward partnership, but simply abandoning the idea could bring new howls of anger from Iraq’s Sunni minority and create more instability.
Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government ignited a firestorm this week when it accused the Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashimi, of running a death squad. Although Iraqi officials have amassed what has been described as a strong case tying Hashimi’s bodyguards to a string of assassinations, there is scant evidence against Hashimi beyond the bodyguards’ confessions. Hashimi has dismissed those as coerced.
I'm now thinking Hashimi was in fact working for the U.S.
The Kurdish regional government in Iraq’s semiautonomous north offered no sign yesterday that it would heed Maliki’s demand that officials there surrender Hashimi, who fled to the region several days ago. Hashimi, who has denied the government’s allegations, has refused to return to Baghdad, saying he cannot receive a fair trial there.
The Kurds have worked with Mossad and CIA in the past if not now, so....
US officials were scrambling to defuse what has become an embarrassing and potentially destabilizing standoff. The US ambassador rushed back to Baghdad after leaving before the holidays, and Vice President Joe Biden spoke yesterday with Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, urging a dialogue to resolve the crisis....
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"4 die in attacks on Iraqi security officers" January 05, 2012|By Associated Press
BAGHDAD - Attacks in Iraq yesterday targeting the homes of police officers and a member of a government-allied militia killed four people, officials said.
Police said six roadside bombs planted near houses belonging to security officers in Baqubah exploded as their families were sleeping. Two children died in the blasts and nine people were wounded.
The city is a former stronghold of Al Qaeda militants.
Also, police said gunmen stormed the house of a leader in the anti-Al Qaeda militia in the predominantly Sunni suburb of Abu Ghraib, killing him and his wife. The man had been active in the Sahwa, or Sons of Iraq, a Sunni militia that was instrumental in turning the tide against Al Qaeda in the country.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
Iraqi officials have warned of a resurgence of both Sunni and Shi’ite militants and an increase in violence following the US troop withdrawal last month.
The violence comes during a political crisis that erupted after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-dominated government issued an arrest warrant for the country’s top Sunni politician.
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"78 killed in Iraq bombings targeting Shi’ites; Violence spurs fears of rise in sectarian strife" by Adam Schreck | Associated Press, January 06, 2012
BAGHDAD - An apparently coordinated wave of bombings targeting Shi’ite Muslims killed at least 78 people in Iraq yesterday, the second large-scale assault by militants since US forces pulled out last month.
The attacks, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents, come ahead of a Shi’ite holy day that draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across Iraq, raising fears of a deepening of sectarian bloodshed. Rifts along the Sunni-Shi’ite fault line just a few years ago pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war....
That is AmeriKan media newspeak for an intelligence agency false flag.
Yesterday’s blasts occurred at a particularly unstable time for Iraq’s fledgling democracy. A broad-based unity government designed to include the country’s main factions is mired in a crisis pitting politicians from the Shi’ite majority now in power against the Sunni minority, which reigned under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
That is AmeriKan media newspeak for an intelligence agency false flag.
Yesterday’s blasts occurred at a particularly unstable time for Iraq’s fledgling democracy. A broad-based unity government designed to include the country’s main factions is mired in a crisis pitting politicians from the Shi’ite majority now in power against the Sunni minority, which reigned under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
Some Iraqis blame that political discord for the lethal strikes....
Then the U.S. will just have to go back in and.... oh, right, Iraqis basically kicked us out.
Many Iraqis worry that a resurgence of Sunni and Shi’ite militancy could follow the Americans’ withdrawal. In 2006, a Sunni attack on a Shi’ite shrine triggered a wave of sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
“People have real fears that the cycle of violence might be revived in this country,’’ said Tariq Annad, a 52-year-old government employee in Sadr City, after yesterday’s bombings....
That's how the deceitful and deceptive globe-kickers operate.
Two weeks earlier, militants killed at least 69 people as a wave of bombs ripped through mostly Shi’ite neighborhoods in Baghdad. An Al Qaeda front group in Iraq claimed responsibility.
Oh, they are front groups, that is for sure!
Iraq’s political mess is providing further ammunition for extremists. The Shi’ite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued an arrest warrant for the country’s top Sunni politician last month. The Sunni official, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, is holed up in Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north - effectively out of reach of state security forces.
Maliki’s main political rival, the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, is boycotting Parliament sessions and Cabinet meetings to protest what its members call efforts by the government to consolidate power.
Although the political showdown appears far from being resolved, there are tentative signs of progress.
Do you see why I don't want to read this mixed-message slop anymore?
Maliki met yesterday with the Sunni speaker of parliament, Osama al-Nujaifi, a member of Hashemi’s Iraqiya party. In televised comments afterward, they described the talks as positive and said they will work to find a way out of the crisis.
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Maybe this will help:
"Iraqi militant group says it will lay down arms" January 07, 2012|By Adam Schreck and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
BAGHDAD - A decision by a Shi’ite militia to transform itself from an armed, anti-American movement into a viable political force could complicate Iraq’s political crisis and strengthen Iran’s clout in this country as US influence wanes.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government has welcomed the recent decision by Asaib Ahl al-Haq to lay down its arms and join the political process. But bringing the former militants into the fold may alienate the Sunni minority and increase tensions between competing Shi’ite groups.
Maliki, who is widely believed to have played an active role in encouraging the militia to transform, may now gain an important ally that could also lessen his dependence on radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s political bloc. Sadr considers Asaib Ahl al-Haq a disloyal faction that broke away from his own anti-American militia several years ago.
Oh, so there is a split in the Shi'ites, huh?
Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or Band of the Righteous, believes it played an important role in resisting the American presence in Iraq and that it now deserves some political payback. The group is thought to have fewer than 1,000 armed militiamen, backed by tens of thousands of supporters. An Iraqi close to the extremist group said last year that it relies on Iran for roughly $5 million in cash and weapons each month.
So now Sadr is AmeriKa's.... friend?
It is unclear how committed the group is to disarming entirely. Despite agreeing to renounce violence in late December, its members have not handed over their weapons, according to the Iraqi official in charge of reconciling with the country’s armed groups.
“The government will not buy up the group’s weapons, but we are ready to take them if they want us to,’’ said the government official, Amer al-Khuzaie.
A senior member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq said in an interview this week that the group wants to ally itself with other Shi’ite groups to run in provincial and parliamentary elections. But he stopped short of saying the group would disarm completely, saying it would “do its best to secure Shi’ite areas.’’
Qais al-Khazali, the group’s leader, was also circumspect when reached late yesterday.
“The issue of handing over our weapons will be discussed with the Iraqi government sometime in the future, away from the media,’’ he said.
In a brief phone interview, Khazali also said the group is willing to turn over the body of kidnapped British bodyguard Alan McMenemy, though he would not say when.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Hezbollah Brigades were among a group of Shi’ite militias backed by Iran that carried out lethal attacks against US bases in June, the deadliest month in two years for American forces in Iraq. US troops completed their pullout last month.
There is little sign that the Hezbollah Brigades intends to follow Asaib Ahl al-Haq’s path. The Hezbollah group, which is believed to be funded and trained by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard and its Quds Force special operations wing, issued a statement Dec. 30 denying it was joining any national reconciliation process. It said it would not challenge the Iraqi government directly but made no mention of plans to give up arms.
A Shi’ite lawmaker in Baghdad said bringing Shi’ite militants into the political process will only strengthen Iran’s influence in Iraq.
Gee, this article is starting to read like an agenda-pushing, war-mongering piece of crap.
“Iran has full control of these armed groups and Iranian officials know how and when to manipulate them to exert pressure on the Iraqi government,’’ he said on condition his name not be used because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
Same with the CIA and its "Al-CIA-Duh" affiliates!
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"Bomb targeting Shi’ites kills two
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting Shi’ite pilgrims killed two people and wounded eight others south of Baghdad yesterday, Iraqi officials said. This was the third day in a row in which bombers presumed to be Sunni insurgents have struck at members of the country’s Shi’ite majority. Officials said more than 80 people have been killed in a wave of violence that Iraqis fear will rekindle the large-scale sectarian bloodshed that brought the country to the edge of civil war several years ago."
Again, once you know who is behind such things and recognize that the AmeriKan media is nothing but a rectal mouthpiece the stuff becomes easy to decipher.
"Political crisis pushes Iraq toward sectarian war" January 10, 2012|By Adam Schreck
BAGHDAD - More than 90 people have died in blasts across Iraq in less than a week, including 19 people killed in attacks in the Baghdad area yesterday, while the protracted political standoff between Shi’ite and Sunni leaders shows no sign of ending.
The troubled start of an Iraq era without United States forces has fueled critics of the Obama administration’s decision to remove all forces last month. They question the assertion that America’s long war was wound down responsibly.
Three car bombs exploded last night in the Iraqi capital and killed at least 17 people, sinking the country deeper into sectarian violence, authorities said....
Many fear the crisis will push Iraq toward a renewal of the large-scale sectarian warfare that pushed the country to the brink of civil war five years ago....
Administration officials acknowledge that Iraq is mired in its worst government crisis since Saddam Hussein’s ouster, with no obvious answers because of longstanding sectarian and regional rivalries, and newer schisms caused by political maneuvering. The task is Iraq’s now, they insist, with the United States only advising and providing aid.
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"Sectarian attacks in Iraq leave 10 more dead" January 11, 2012
BAGHDAD - Three schoolboys were among at least 10 people killed in Iraq yesterday, extending a wave of bloody attacks that have rocked the country since American troops pulled out.
Several of the attacks struck predominantly Sunni areas north of Baghdad, though an evening blast in the capital appeared to target Shi’ite pilgrims commemorating a holy period known as Arbaeen.
The violence followed deadly car-bomb blasts the evening before and pushed to more than 100 the number of Iraqis killed in less than a week.
Many attacks in recent days have targeted Iraq’s Shi’ite majority, raising fears of a serious outbreak of sectarian violence following the withdrawal of US troops last month.
Large-scale sectarian fighting pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-07. Well-armed Sunni insurgents and Shi’ite militias continue to operate in the country.
The violence is occurring as Iraq’s leaders remain locked in a political crisis that is stoking tensions between the Shi’ite majority in power and the country’s Sunnis, who benefited most from ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s rule.
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"Bomb kills at least 53 pilgrims in Iraq" January 15, 2012|By Adam Schreck and Nabil al-Jurani
ZUBAIR, Iraq - A bomb tore through a procession of Shi’ite pilgrims heading toward a largely Sunni town in southern Iraq yesterday, killing at least 53 people in the latest sign of a power struggle between rival Muslim sects that has escalated since the US military withdrawal.
Fears of more bloodshed have risen in recent weeks, with the United States no longer enjoying the leverage it once had to encourage the two sides to work together to rein in extremists.
Of course, it is OKAY for the U.S. to have leverage! But if it is neighbor Iran.... SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most of the latest attacks appear to be aimed at Iraq’s majority Shi’ites, suggesting Sunni insurgents seeking to undermine the Shi’ite-dominated government are to blame.
Sunni insurgents backed by who, the $audis?
Yesterday’s blast happened on the last of the 40 days of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shi’ite pilgrims travel to the Iraqi city of Karbala and other holy sites. The end of Arbaeen is one of the most sacred times for Shi’ites, and public processions to commemorate it were banned under Saddam Hussein.
The blast occurred near the town of Zubair as pilgrims marched from the nearby port city of Basra toward the Imam Ali shrine on the outskirts of the town, said Ayad al-Emarah, a spokesman for the governor of Basra province.
The shrine is an enclave within an enclave - a Shi’ite site on the edge of a predominantly Sunni town in an otherwise mostly Shi’ite province.
But sectarianism is ripping Iraqis apart, yup.
There were conflicting reports of what caused the blast, with some officials saying a roadside bomb was to blame. But witnesses at the scene described the perpetrator as a suicide bomber disguised as a volunteer handing out juice and food to pilgrims. Ali Ghanim al-Maliki, the head of the Basra provincial council, corroborated that account in an interview with Iraqiya state television.
What that means is SOMEONE is LYING!!
Arbaeen marks the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered Shi’ite figure who is the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Pilgrims who cannot make it to Imam Hussein’s grave in the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, often journey to other sacred sites such as the shrine near Zubair.
“I saw several dead bodies and wounded people, including children on the ground asking for help. There were also some baby strollers left behind at the blast site,’’ said Majid Hussein, a government employee, who was one of the pilgrims heading to the shrine.
At least 53 people were killed and more than 130 wounded in the blast, said Dr. Riyadh Abdul-Amir, the head of Basra Health Directorate.
The US Embassy strongly condemned the attack, saying such acts of violence “tear at the fabric of Iraqi unity.’’
Many pilgrims were undeterred and continued on the bloodstained road despite the explosion. Shoes and slippers, as well as the remains of abayas, the long black cloaks most women wear in public, littered the side of the road.
The attack bore the hallmarks of Sunni extremists, who believe Shi’ites are not true Muslims. It was the latest in a series of deadly strikes during this year’s Arbaeen.
Yeah, but they are working with Iran, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Whatever LIE WORKS at a given time, right, shit media?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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"7 Iraqi officers slain as gunmen storm compound" January 16, 2012
BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces battled gunmen who detonated a car bomb before blasting their way into a government compound and killing seven policemen in a one-time Sunni insurgent hotbed yesterday, police and local government officials said.
Smells like an "Al-CIA-Duh" hit squad to me.
The three-hour standoff between Shi’ite-dominated security forces and suspected Sunni insurgents in the Anbar Province capital of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, marked the first serious gun battle for Iraqi forces against insurgents without American backup since the US military completed its withdrawal last month.
That's confirmation!
Violence has surged since American troops left, and Iraq was plunged into a political crisis after Shi’ite-dominated government charged Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi with running death squads, issuing an arrest warrant against him just as the last US soldiers crossed into neighboring Kuwait.
A court in Baghdad ruled yesterday that Hashemi must stand trial on terror charges in Baghdad, rejecting his request to be tried in the ethnically mixed city in Kirkuk.
He has fled to the autonomous Kurdish region, out of reach of Baghdad officials.
Hashemi’s Iraqiya party has boycotted Parliament and Cabinet sessions since last month to protest what it sees as efforts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite, to consolidate power, particularly over security forces.
Iraqiya is a tool of AmeriKa!!
The sectarian crisis in the government and the rise in attacks, such as a bombing Saturday that killed more than 50 pilgrims during a Shi’ite procession and yesterday’s assault on the government buildings, has raised concerns Iraq could return to sectarian bloodshed.
You know, the AmeriKan media has lied about -- and CONTINUES to LIE about -- so much that this repeated dog shit must be a cover. That is how you have to read an AmeriKan intelligence agency handout called a newspaper.
Yesterday, five gunmen in military uniforms and explosive-rigged vests stormed a compound in Ramadi, two police officials said.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!
The compound houses Ramadi police headquarters and several federal security agencies, including an antiterrorism police task force and a detention facility where terrorism suspects are interrogated.
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"33 Iraqis die in bombing of Shi’ite funeral" January 28, 2012|By Barbara Surk
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber struck a Shi’ite funeral procession yesterday, killing 33 people as suspected Al Qaeda militants stepped up apparent efforts to provoke a counterattack by Shi’ite militias on Sunnis that could pave the way toward open sectarian warfare now that US troops have left Iraq....
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the predominantly Shi’ite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah in southwestern Baghdad but the bombing resembled previous attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq....
Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups are thought to be exploiting sectarian tensions in the wake of Shi’ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s efforts to marginalize the Sunni minority and cement his own grip on power.
Are YOU AS SICK of this s*** as me, readers?
Maliki’s security forces have launched a widespread crackdown against Sunni politicians, detaining hundreds for alleged ties to the deposed Ba’ath Party. Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, fled to the safety of the Kurdish semiautonomous zone after he was charged with running death squads during the height of the war.
“The attacks are a reaction to political developments in Iraq,’’ said Mustafa Alani, a Geneva-based analyst and an Iraq expert with the Gulf Research Center. “The Sunnis feel the Shi’ites are squeezing them out of the government, and militants see the sectarian tensions in politics as a golden opportunity to reactivate their terror campaign.’’
Who benefits most by a divided and thus weakened Iraq?
“The US soldiers are gone, Sunni politicians are being marginalized, and while most Sunnis will not support the militants at the expense of being part of the political process, the attackers know that most Sunnis won’t condemn violent acts either,’’ Alani said.
Hadi Jalo, a Baghdad-based political analyst, said the attacks could be a provocation by Sunni militants, trying to draw government-backed Shi’ite militias back into a sectarian fight.
My advice to the Shi'ites: Don't fall for the trap.
“Those behind these attacks know that there are a number of organized Shi’ite armed groups who can strike back in Sunni areas to renew the tit-for-tat killings,’’ Jalo said....
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"Iraq’s Sunni leaders to return to Parliament, ending boycott" January 30, 2012|By Tim Arango
BAGHDAD - In the first sign that Iraq’s leaders may yet halt a sectarian political crisis that has raised fears of civil war, Iraq’s Sunni leaders said yesterday that they would end their boycott of Parliament....
The move does not signal the end of Iraq’s political crisis, but the concession came a day after Vice President Joe Biden made another round of calls to Iraqiya leaders, urging them to return to Parliament so the leadership could hold a national conference, which Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, has been trying to arrange.
I told you we controlled them!
Biden, according to a White House statement released Saturday, spoke to Iraqiya’s leader, Ayad Allawi, and the speaker of Parliament, Osama Nujaifi....
Allawi is a "former" U.S. asset.
The drama has laid bare the unfinished business of America’s war, which upended generations of rule by a Sunni-dominated authoritarian regime. The war ushered in rule by the Shi’ite majority, but the two sects, which fought a brutal civil war in 2006 and 2007, have been unable to fully reconcile.
Actually, we were told here in AmeriKa that the surge worked, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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"US Sunni allies in Iraq are targeted" February 05, 2012|By Dan Morse
BAGHDAD - Muhannad Mahmoud can’t find a place in the new Iraq.
The American military, which hired him and more than 80,000 other Sunni fighters to take on Al Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, just left. But the insurgents have not.
The Iraqi government, increasingly dominated by Shi’ite powers, is leery about hiring the fighters as security forces. And even if Mahmoud were able to land such a job, some of his fellow Sunnis are so distrustful of the new government that they would label him a traitor.
As a member of the Sons of Iraq, who were widely credited with helping the United States restore stability to the country several years ago, Mahmoud and his brethren say they have been pushed to the side - even as insurgents come after them daily.
“I am ready to fight them again,’’ Mahmoud said recently, taking a break from his job repairing power lines that run from a neighborhood generator to homes and businesses.
For years, the Iraqi government has struggled to carry out a US-brokered plan to find military or police jobs for the Sunni fighters - some of them genuine heroes, some of them former insurgents themselves. How the government treats them over the coming months could present a chance for reconciliation - or threaten to widen the country’s sectarian divide, especially if Sons of Iraq members strike out on their own, or, worse, defect to groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Either way they are working for AmeriKa!
These days, even with the increased violence, the Sons of Iraq stand out, targeted by daily assassination attempts. In Iraq, they are known more broadly by the term Sahwa. In January, four Iraqis connected to Sahwa were assassinated in one day....
By 2008, the Sons of Iraq ranks had swelled to 100,000, including a small contingent of Shi’ite fighters.
EXCUSE ME?!!!!!!!!
The United States transferred full management of the force to the Iraqi government in 2009, with the understanding that 20 percent of the fighters would be given jobs in Iraq’s police or military units and that the government would try to find the others civil service or private-sector jobs. But the process has moved slowly.
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"3 dead, 18 hurt in 2 Iraq bombings" February 15, 2012
BAGHDAD - Two separate attacks against Iraqi security forces killed 3 people and wounded 18 others yesterday, officials said. Violence has dropped considerably since the height of Iraq’s insurgency just a few years ago, but attacks continue almost daily in Baghdad.
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"Inquiry supports case against Iraq VP" February 17, 2012
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi judicial panel said yesterday that the Sunni vice president and his employees ran death squads that killed security officials and Shi’ite pilgrims. The findings, touted as the first independent assessment of the accusations, were likely to only further increase sectarian tensions over the politically divisive case.
Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has denied the charges, and the accusations have angered many Sunnis who see them as part of a campaign by the Shi’ite prime minister to push them out of politics....
Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar did not offer any evidence to support the panel’s conclusions, which are not legally binding....
No evidence, not legally binding? Why is this "news?"
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Related: With Kurds' help, Iraq's vice president defies arrest
"Suicide bomber kills 20 at Iraqi police academy" February 20, 2012|By Sameer N. Yacoub
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber detonated his car yesterday as a group of police recruits left their academy in Baghdad, killing 20 in the latest strike on security officials that angry residents blamed on political feuding that is roiling Iraq....
As yesterday’s attacks showed, extremists are easily able to sidestep security measures....
Shi’ite lawmaker Hakim al-Zamili, who sits on Parliament’s security and defense committee, blamed Al Qaeda for launching the attack but raised the possibility that it aimed to increase bitterness among Iraqis already exasperated with ongoing political fighting that has consumed the government for weeks.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but suicide attacks are a hallmark of Al Qaeda.
So says my lying, agenda-pushing, war-promoting media.
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"Iraq rocked by wave of blasts; 55 are killed, 225 injured during attacks" by Asaad Alazawi and Ernesto Londono | Washington Post, February 24, 2012
BAGHDAD - A wave of bombings across Iraq killed dozens of people yesterday morning, security officials said, in a grim indication of the strength of the insurgency two months after the US military completed its withdrawal.
Most of the attacks, which were carried out with car bombs and small arms, appeared to target security forces in the capital and other cities, authorities said. At least 55 people were killed and more than 225 wounded, according to local security officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Although yesterday was not the deadliest day in Iraq since American forces completed their departure in late December, the attacks represented the most widespread operation yet mounted by suspected Sunni insurgents who have sought for years to topple the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad.
Yeah, that will really win people over the the "Al-CIA-Duh" cause!
Iraqi officials did not provide an official death toll, and few appeared on television to speak about, or condemn, the attacks....
Lawmakers passed a bill yesterday approving the purchase of 350 armored vehicles for their personal use, worth more than $50 million. As the casualties mounted, Iraqis reacted with outrage and blamed the country’s fractured political leadership for the insecurity that continues to plague the country....
They are no different than politicians in any country. They serve only themselves!
Yesterday’s carnage followed a relatively quiet period in Baghdad and other normally violent cities, a lull that had led some Iraqis to speculate that Sunni insurgents had flooded into neighboring Syria to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad....
Yeah, "CIA-Duh" has been sending them there.
And seriously, violence is "normal" in Iraq?
Then this thing has been a COLOSSAL FAILURE despite the never-ending AmeriKan media spin!
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"Iraqi lawmakers rethink pricey armored car perk" Associated Press, March 01, 2012
BAGHDAD - Faced with bitter criticism from an impoverished public, Iraqi lawmakers said yesterday that they were having second thoughts about buying themselves millions of dollars worth of armored cars on the government’s dime.
They will buy them later when no one is looking, just like the airplanes.
And it is not an impoverished public because they been liberated, damn ya!
In a late-night vote with little scrutiny, Parliament last week approved spending $50 million on the armored cars out of Iraq’s $100 billion budget for 2012.
AmeriKa really did set up this government because that is the same way our pos politicians do things here!!!
Since then, the controversy has consumed Baghdad, with everyone - from government officials to revered clerics to newspaper editors - condemning the pricey perk.
Lawmaker Mohammed al-Khalidi, a member of a secular but Sunni-dominated political party, said yesterday that he voted for the armored cars but is now reconsidering taking one, “given the reaction from the Iraqi people.’’
Khalidi, who represents Mosul, said he voted for the cars because he escaped two assassination attempts as a lawmaker.
Violence has dropped from just five years ago. But deadly attacks still happen nearly every day as militants try to undermine confidence in government and security officials.
The cars would be distributed to all 325 lawmakers, with an additional 25 earmarked for the office of Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi.
“There are dozens of villages in the country that do not have access to drinking water while lawmakers set aside money to buy armored vehicles,’’ cleric Ahmed al-Safi, a top aide to the revered Shi’ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said during prayers last Friday in Karbala.
Yeah, I thought that was kind of important.
Does thirst ask what sect you are?
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"Al Qaeda says it is behind Iraq attacks" February 25, 2012|By Bushra Juhi
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s Al Qaeda branch has claimed responsibility for the latest wave of bombings and other attacks that killed dozens in Baghdad and across the country, raising concerns over the government’s ability to provide security after the US troop pullout.
The Islamic State of Iraq said in an Internet message late Thursday that it targeted security forces and government officials in “revenge for the elimination and torture campaigns that Sunni men and women face in the prisons of Baghdad and other cities.’’
PFFFFFFFFFFFTTT!!
Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI
New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation
It came in a Internet message!
Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government has executed at least 68 prisoners this year, a rate that has alarmed human rights groups.
This is only a problem because Iraq is drawing closer to Iran.
Additionally, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite, ordered detentions last fall of hundreds of former Saddam Hussein loyalists, most of whom were Sunni.
Of course, when AmeriKa did it, you know, no problem. Since when has the western media cared about Saddam Hussein loyalists anyway?
Thursday’s attacks killed 55 people and wounded 225, increasing fears of a new surge in sectarian violence two months after the US military pulled out.
“These operations were synchronized and their targets were accurately surveyed and chosen, including security headquarters, military patrols, and senior security, judicial and administrative officials,’’ Al Qaeda said in the statement.
Could I have a grain of salt with that?
The violence is not as frequent as it was during the tit-for-tat sectarian fighting that almost pushed Iraq into civil war a few years ago. But the attacks appear to be more deadly than before the US withdrawal in late December.
Days after the US troops left, a wave of bombs targeting Shi’ites killed at least 69 people. That happened twice more over the following three weeks, killing 78 and 53, respectively. Al Qaeda was blamed.
Oh, I'm sure it was "Al-CIA-Duh."
An aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most prominent Shi’ite cleric, said the government must protect citizens by eliminating the terrorist threat....
Turbulence in Iraq’s political system has also fueled sectarian tensions, but there is no indication so far that it has led to violence....
WTF?
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"Al Qaeda attack kills 25 Iraqi police" by Lara Jakes | Associated Press, March 06, 2012
A man grieved Monday at a funeral service in Fallujah for security forces gunned down in Haditha, Iraq (HADI MIZBAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS).
Just a reminder of people left behind and their grief.
BAGHDAD — Assailants waving the battle flag of Al Qaeda gunned down 25 police officers Monday in a brazen and well-orchestrated challenge to government control over a strategic town fraught with Iraq war symbolism.
The attack replicated tactics used by Sunni insurgents during the war and appeared aimed at reasserting Al Qaeda’s grip now that the Iraqis can no longer rely on American help.
It reaches the level of OBSCENITY once you realize the deceptions, doesn't it?
And yet we get this shit day after fucking day in the newspaper!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The attackers drove through the town of Haditha claiming to be government officials and methodically executed guards and commanders. After half an hour they escaped into the desert, leaving a terrified populace demanding protection. Local authorities imposed a curfew and deployed troops....
Another escape: Haditha Heartbreak: Wuterich Wins
The choice of target was significant in several ways.
Haditha is just 65 miles from the border with Syria, where rebels fighting the regime are allegedly gaining recruits from Iraq. During the Iraq war the town of 85,000 was a critical pawn in the battle, and was overrun and held by Al Qaeda insurgents for months until US forces ousted them. It was also the home of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, as well as the scene of a US massacre of civilians.
Oh, HIM AGAIN!
Yes, dear reader, other than the DEAD everything you are reading is from a fucking SCRIPT!!!
Iraqi officials described Monday’s attack as a systematic plot to kill policemen. The attackers came at 2 a.m. in cars painted as Iraqi Interior Ministry vehicles and brandished false arrest warrants for city police officials.
Oh, it was a FALSE FLAG, huh?
At the first checkpoint, they confiscated cellphones and shot nine guards, said Mohammed Fathi, spokesman for the governor of Iraq’s western Anbar Province, where Haditha is located.
The convoy then stopped at the homes of two Haditha police commanders, including the colonel who served as the city’s SWAT team leader. They were killed less than a quarter of a mile away, Fathi said.
He said the attackers had false arrest warrants for 15 police officials. At a checkpoint near the main market a gun battle broke out, with the gang raising the Al Qaeda flag, according to a police lieutenant in Haditha who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Six policemen were killed in that skirmish, and eight more were killed as security forces chased the gang through the city, Fathi said.
The police lieutenant said most of the gang escaped north, but one of the insurgents’ cars was shot up and found to contain an Al Qaeda flag, black with a Koranic inscription, and Al Qaeda propaganda....
Just like the 9/11 hijackers, James Earl Ray, Lee Oswald, and all the rest.
You propaganda pushers REALLY DON'T EXPECT US TO BELIEVE THIS SHIT ANYMORE, DO YOU?
DO YOU?
The attack exposed the vulnerability of the Iraqi public, who have already lost tens of thousands of lives and now, with the Americans gone, face a fresh wave of bombings and assassinations with only a reconstituted and relatively untested Iraqi security force for protection....
First of all, they didn't "lose" those lives -- implying they could be "found" again -- those LIVES WERE TAKEN on the basis of MASSIVE LIES from the U.S. government and its shit hole mouthpiece here!!
Secondly, it is MILLIONS, you deceiving piece of shit!
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Related: Al Qaeda says it led attacks in Iraq
Oh, I believe them. It was "CIA-Duh." No question in my mind.
"Double bombing kills 14 in northern Iraq" Associated Press, March 08, 2012
BAGHDAD - Two bombs that exploded in swift succession killed 14 people Wednesday near a crowded restaurant in a mid-sized city in Iraq’s north, officials said.
Officials said the blasts may indicate that the town of Tal Afar, a hotbed of insurgency during the years that Iraq teetered on the edge of civil war, may again be experiencing an influx of militants due to the uprising in neighboring Syria.
Why does Tal Afar ring a bell for me?
Foreign volunteers coming to join the Iraqi insurgency once passed through the town en route from Syria to the northern Iraqi crossroads city of Mosul. Now, Iraqi fighters are thought to be heading in the other direction, traveling to aid Syria’s largely Sunni insurgents in their battle against a regime in Damascus dominated by a Shi’ite offshoot sect....
So which intersection is the CIA traffic light located?
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"Militant group frees American" Associated Press, March 18, 2012
BAGHDAD - Wearing a US Army uniform and flanked by Iraqi lawmakers, an American citizen announced on Saturday that he was being released from more than nine months of imprisonment by the Promised Day Brigade, a Shi’ite militia that for years targeted US troops. Lawmakers showed US-issued military and contractor identification cards that identified him as Randy Michael Hultz. He said he deployed to Iraq early in the war as an active-duty soldier but had left the military after 15 months. He worked as a civilian until being captured on June 18, 2011(AP)."
?????????
"Sadrists demand better services in Iraq" March 20, 2012|By Nabeel al-Jurani
BASRA, Iraq — Followers of the anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demanded on Monday better living conditions in Iraq on the ninth anniversary of the US-led invasion of their country.
Wow, 3/20/2003 is Iraq's 9/11.
Iraqis have struggled with high unemployment, corruption, and an infrastructure degraded by years of sanctions, war, and economic neglect. As the violence across the country has abated, economic development has become a key concern for many Iraqis.
Yeah, the violence is abating, uh-huh.
Sheik Assad al-Nasiri said that Sadrists want the government to step up with better-paying jobs, public services, and to fight corruption now that US troops have left Iraq.
Nasiri credited the Sadrists with liberating Iraq from the troops he described as occupiers.
“We fought for Iraq and liberated it from the American occupation,’’ Nasiri told thousands of Sadr’s followers who turned out for a rally in the southern province of Basra, located about 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.
“The government must meet our demands to live a better life,’’ Nasiri added.
Didn't AmeriKa promise that with its invasion?
The Sadrists are partners in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But Sadr and the prime minister have a tenuous relationship ever since Iraqi government forces routed Sadr’s militia forces in Basra and eastern Baghdad in 2008.
That's such a lie. What happened back in 2008 is that Maliki's action against Sadr was trumpeted by the AmeriKan media as an example of how successful building the Iraqi military had gone. Unfortunately, the thing devolved into a stalemate right from the beginning and the AmeriKan media soon dropped its coverage. Then Iran came in and brokered a cease-fire and peace deal. But hey, what would you expect from a dog shit media these days?
Sadr later backed Maliki for a second term but the relationship has been marked by mutual suspicion.
Among the protesters was Hassan Saleh, 27, who graduated in 2007 from the state-run Technology Institute but cannot find a job. “I work as a construction worker because I can’t find a government job,’’ Saleh said. “We have suffered a lot in this rich country.’’
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Also see: US teacher killed at school in Iraq
"Fugitive Iraqi vice president visits Qatar" ASSOCIATED PRESS April 02, 2012
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Tariq al-Hashemi, the fugitive Iraqi vice president, traveled to Qatar on Sunday on what the Gulf nation’s state news agency called an “official visit.’’ The trip could intensify tensions between Baghdad’s Shi’ite-led government and the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf.
The visit marks Hashemi’s first foreign trip since he fled to Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region to avoid an arrest warrant issued in December.
Hashemi is Iraq’s highest-ranking Sunni official. Iraqi officials accuse him of running death squads against Shi’ite pilgrims, government officials, and security forces. He denies the charges, which he says are politically motivated.
Qatar protested Baghdad’s treatment of Iraq’s Sunni minority by sending a midlevel official to an Arab League summit hosted by Iraq last week. Other Sunni-led Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, also snubbed Iraq by sending lower-level officials.
Related: Iraq Secured Arab Summit
The Gulf states are wary of the close ties Iraq’s government has forged with regional Shi’ite powerhouse Iran, which they see as a rival.
Yup, everything always comes back to the war agenda with Iran.
Last month, Iraq’s Interior Ministry demanded that Kurdish leaders arrest Hashemi before he could flee the country. The semiautonomous Kurdish region has its own security forces, which means Hashemi was effectively out of reach from police controlled by the central government in Baghdad.
Hashemi will stay for several days, the government-run Qatar News Agency said. He was greeted on arrival by the minister of state, Sheik Hamad bin Nasser bin Jassim Al Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family.
While there was no immediate response from Iraq’s government, the high-level treatment is likely to irk authorities in Baghdad.
Earlier in the day, before news of Hashemi’s trip emerged, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq warned other Arab states against affording him an official welcome. Hashemi’s office said he plans to meet with Qatar’s emir and the prime minister during the visit.
Sometimes it is okay to meet with terrorists.
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