Baghdad's Green Zone Hit By Rockets

[babylonsister]

Baghdad Green Zone hit by rockets

4 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Insurgents on Tuesday slammed at least four rockets into the heavily-fortified Baghdad Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy, Iraqi and US officials said.

At least four Katyusha rockets struck the Green Zone, an Iraqi security official said.

The latest assault comes just two days after insurgents fired four waves of rockets and mortars into the area, which once served as Saddam Hussein's presidential compound, injuring six people and damaging buildings.

US embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo confirmed the attack and said there were "no deaths or major injuries."

Two rockets hit the fence of the Ibn Sinha hospital, another fell near a building that houses Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's security company and the fourth fell near the office of Blackwater USA, the private security company employed to protect US embassy personnel, a witness told AFP.

more...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i-sOcRVgm0BEG6fvj1Arq2yFkSWA

[Ghost in the Machine]

1. Too bad the one missed Blackwater's office...

I know that sounds harsh, but I can't stand the mercs, period.

[babylonsister]

2. You're not alone; that was my first thought, too. nt

[madokie]

3. Same here

I guess the merc's come in handy when those things they don't want our military to do needs done then they can do it for them with very little if any questions asked.

[bushmeister0]

4. You missed the most important part . . .

"The US military claims that most mortar rounds or rockets that hit the area are fired by 'rogue' elements of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, blamed neighbouring Iran for the weekend attacks, saying they were 'Iranian-provided, Iranian-made rockets.'"

I'm sure the evidence to back up that statement was forthcoming, the AFP corresponent just didn't have time to documnet it.

I like this "rogue element" game they're playing with Muqtada al-Sadr. They're going after his people in Baghdad but saying they're only assisting him in rooting out his own rogue fighters. They want him to play ball, and he has helped out the surge by keeping his powder dry these past six months, but one wrong move by Patreaus & Co. and all bets are off. It could turn into spring 2004 all over again real quick.

It may already be too late . . .

AFP:

" Moqtada al-Sadr's militiamen Tuesday battled troops in four Iraqi cities on Tuesday, including the capital, as the hardline Shiite cleric threatened a countrywide campaign of civil revolt. Heavy clashes broke out between Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters in the southern oil city of Basra, killing at least seven people and wounding 48, and in Kut and Hilla, both south of Baghdad, officials said. As evening fell, Mahdi Army fighters fought with Iraqi and US forces in their Sadr City bastion in eastern Baghdad for the first time since last October, a security official and witnesses told AFP,"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080325/ts_afp/iraq

Bye bye surge, bye bye.