12 Explosions in Iraq Kill at Least 152
A dozen explosions have hit Iraq this morning, killing at least 152 people and wounding 542.
12 Explosions in Iraq Kill at Least 152 (AP)
A dozen explosions ripped through the Iraqi capital in rapid succession Wednesday, killing at least 152 people and wounding 542 in a series of attacks that began with a suicide car bombing that targeted laborers assembled to find work for the day. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility.
The one-day death toll was believed to be the worst in the capital since major combat ended in May 2003, and Al-Jazeera said Al-Qaida in Iraq linked the attacks to the recent rout of militants from the city of Tal Afar by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Before dawn Wednesday, 17 men were executed in a village north of Baghdad, which pushed the death toll in all violence in and around the capital to 169.
Not good, obviously. Stopping terrorist attacks in a large country is virtually impossible; the Israelis haven’t been able to do it even in a tiny area.
Still, this has to be quite demoralizing to the Iraqi population and sapping whatever confidence they might have that the Americans and/or their own government will protect them.
Yes destroying faith that a government can rule is a basic of guerilla war. But this goes deeper. The Jihadists make no secret of the fact that they wish to instigate a religious civil war. The goal would be to begin the cleansing of heretic Shia and to create a conflixt which will bring in all societies of the region.
While the press has underplayed it the murder is no longer one way. Hundreds, possibly thousands of Sunni have been killed by Shiite militias including the police.
With southern Iraq turning into Iranian allied Shiite theocracies and the west becoming the battleground were the true believers pour in (there was recently calls for the overthrow of the sort of Shiite Syrian government by the jihadists) the place and region could be interesting.
And remember one of the really big differences with Vietnam is that this area is of vital strategic interest to us.