At Least 26 Killed in Baghdad Car Bombs - U.S. Army

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050119/wl_nm/iraq_bombings_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least four car bombs exploded in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 21, the U.S. military said.


The military said a car bomb attack near the Australian embassy killed two Iraqis. A car bomb near a hospital half an hour later killed 18, including five Iraqi police, it said.


A third car bomb killed two Iraqi security guards near Baghdad's international airport, and a fourth killed two civilians and two Iraqi soldiers at a military complex in Baghdad.


The U.S. military said the loss of life could have been worse if security forces had not responded so quickly.


"All of these car bombers were stopped by security forces before they could reach their intended targets," said Lieutenant-Colonel James Hutton of the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad. "While the any loss of life is tragic, it could have been a lot worse."




Smoke rises from heavily protected 'Green Zone' that hosts the U.S. and the British embassies and Iraqi government, following an explosion, in Baghdad, Wednesday, Jan.19, 2005. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

[UL_Approved]

1. I have a question:

If we sealed the borders, and are having success in finding stuff, where are people getting all of the ordinance to fight the war? And what ever happened about those unsecured weapons depots, like al-Qaqaa?

[seriousstan]

3. Iraq is a giant ammo dump. Before the war Saddam stockpiled

weapons everywhere just for this contingency. Then in the immediate aftermath, weapons and ammo were used as a barter/currency.

There are more than enough weapons to go around. Many in very small and scattered stockpiles.

[leftchick]

4. it will get very interesting when real arms are given to the 'rebels'

I mean more sophisticated arms like SAMs to use on US Helicopters. I am sure there are more than enough sympathetic countries to arm the cause.

[seriousstan]

8. Let's just hope that doesn't happen,

unless your sympathetic of course.

[leftchick]

9. sympathy has nothing to do with it...

:eyes: good God, like I am "aiding the enemy"?

I just call it like I see it and I want the troops home. History teaches us (well except the idiots in charge) that sooner or later REAL help will come to the resistance. It is a fact and the sooner we get the troops home the better.

[leftchick]

2. Update: FIVE Car Bombings....

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aazHsSJiIKMI&refer=top_world_news

Central Iraq Hit by Five Car Bombings; at Least 27 People Die

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Five car bombings in and near Baghdad today killed at least 27 people and injured 23, while in northern Iraq, U.S. soldiers killed two civilians who tried to drive through an Army patrol, the U.S.-led military said.

Four of the blasts occurred within 90 minutes. The first took place at about 7 a.m. local time near the Australian Embassy in central Baghdad, killing two Iraqis, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement. The deadliest came an hour later, when 18 people, including five police officers, were killed near the al- Alahi hospital, also in the capital's center.

A blast at 8:15 a.m. southwest of Baghdad's international airport killed two security guards and wounded three people. A fourth bomb 15 minutes later hit a checkpoint at the Muthana Airfield, killing two Iraqi soldiers and two civilians, the military said. A fifth killed one policeman and hurt two south of Baghdad, Poland's military said in an e-mailed statement.

Iraqi and U.S.-led forces have been struggling to halt attacks across Iraq that authorities say are expected to increase as the country's Jan. 30 legislative elections approach. Interim Prime Minister said that while he expects violence to surge before the poll, he won't allow insurgents to derail Iraq's political process.

[no_to_war_economy]

6. Dahr Jamail reports from the scene

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000175.php

[no_to_war_economy]

5. Condi, your Iraq project is really turning the corner

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1393695,00.html

[Massachusetts]

7. The "Insurgents" are probing

Coordinated attacks WILL increase with more accuracy and devastation.IMO

[osaMABUSh]

10. BTW, you notice the only thing this White House gets right?

They predicted that the violence will increase as we near the election. We've heard that story before - the violence will increase as when Saddam is captured, the violence will increase when Iraq is sovereign, the violence will increase during the US elections, the violence will increase during Ramadan,....

In a way they were correct in each case but the actual truth is that the violence will increase over time only because US troops are present.