Bombs kill 23 civilians in Baghdad; U.S. military announces 3 troop deaths

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AP) - Three bombs killed 23 Iraqis in Baghdad on Thursday, and the U.S. military announced the deaths of three American soldiers.

Two bombs exploded shortly after 10 a.m. opposite a park in the South Gate area, killing nine civilians and wounding 43, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. South Gate is often crowded with commuters and shoppers. A bomb planted under a car killed 12 civilians and wounded 26 others near al-Sha'ab stadium in eastern Baghdad, police said. The bomb exploded among a group of people lining up to buy kerosene.

Another blast targeted a police patrol in western Baghdad but missed, killing two civilians instead, police said. Four others were wounded and taken to Yarmouk Hospital.

The U.S. military said three U.S. soldiers died in roadside bombs on Wednesday. Two soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded near their foot patrol southwest of Baghdad, and one died in a bombing in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital.

more:http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/12/28/pf-3040373.html

[xchrom]

1. merry christmas and happy new year.

[Eugene]

2. Also 51 bodies found in Baghdad

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 28
28 Dec 2006 08:53:29 GMT
Source: Reuters

Dec 28 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq
as of 0845 GMT on Thursday:

-snip-

BAGHDAD - A total of 51 bodies were found on Wednesday in different districts
of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28613641.htm

[maddezmom]

3. UN figures: aprrox 100 a day

Bomb attacks, mortars and death squad executions are killing an average of more than 100 people a day in Iraq, according to U.N. figures, as sectarian tensions threaten to pitch the country into full-scale civil war.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-12-28T095351Z_01_PAR835022_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-BOMBS.xml

This figure seems a bit low in recents weeks.

[antiimperialist]

4. 51 dumped bodies found in Baghdad Wednesday

Plus many other violent deaths.

More here

[Supersedeas]

5. Nothing to see here--feed them more infotainment about the Minuteman Protest

[Jcrowley]

6. Bombs rock Baghdad as Saddam judgement published

Bombs rock Baghdad as Saddam judgement published

by Sabah Jerges 51 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Iraqi court has published its formal written condemnation of
Saddam Hussein, setting into motion the legal machinery leading to his execution, as 25 people were killed in attacks.

The confirmation of the ousted dictator's death sentence came as his foe US
President George W. Bush convened a meeting of his top security advisers to find a way to stem the rising bloodshed in
Iraq.

More than three and a half years after a US-led invasion deposed Saddam's totalitarian regime, the country remains in the grip of a vicious sectarian conflict that claims more than 100 Iraqi lives daily.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061228/wl_mideast_afp/iraq

[jazzjunkysue]

7. More flowers and candy? I'm overwhelmed. n/t.

[Say_What]

8. Anybody surprised?? n/t

[snappyturtle]

9. On to Iran!! n/t

[Solly Mack]

10. News said it would be carried out before December ends

That's the rest of today (it's almost 6 PM in Iraq as of now) and 3 more days (until midnight on the 31st).

So.... damn.damn.damn.

The news also said they would execute him and then announce it...so it could be happening as I type.

[Kagemusha]

11. Seriously, 25 lives lost in bombings is nothing

This isn't an escalation so far. It's just business as usual.

Perhaps that should bother us more.

[cal04]

12. Bloodshed and tension on Iraqi streets

At least 25 people have been killed in a string of gun and bomb attacks across Iraq, amid gathering tension in anticipation of former president Saddam Hussein's execution.

Seven people were killed and at least 25 others were wounded when two booby traps exploded in a popular Baghdad market during the busy morning shopping rush.

Another 10 people were killed and 35 wounded in east Baghdad when a bomb exploded among a crowd queuing for heating fuel.

(snip)
However, opinions on the street are divided.

Some ask: "What is the crime of Saddam Hussein? What massacres are they talking about? There are hundreds of daily massacres and thousands of Iraqis are killed at the hands of sectarian militias and at the hands of the Iranians."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1819038.htm

[asjr]

14. The "crime" of Saddam Hussein is that

he became a scapegoat for another man's ego. Never mind he didn't have WMD. He was a bad boy and was not a menace to us. We needed to "make a name" for ourself and he was handy being part of the axis of evil. Never mind that there is chaos over there. We caused it but that doesn't matter. We already have another country in our sights who is "developing" WMDs. We have two more years in which we can destroy the rest of the world while we sit basking in our importance. We must create a legacy and the sooner we can execute a bad boy the bigger we will feel. And as of today no one will be able to stop us unless . . .

[earthside]

13. Murphy's Law in Iraq

Executing Saddam will be a big mistake ... just like everything the United States has touched in Iraq.

"Everything that can go wrong in Iraq, will go wrong for the U.S."

Why?

It's easy. You cannot attack another country based on lies and ever expect that somehow things will be righted later. Even the trial of Hussein was botched from the beginning because Bush and the neocons refused to let the International Court have jurisdiction -- thereby setting up a trial of vengence, not justice.

The trial of Saddam was a joke and everybody knows it. Hanging Saddam will now feed into the hate and loathing of the U.S. and our troops in Iraq -- it will be the most graphic example of an imperial foreign power imposing its will on a resistent people.

I suspect that even the Shi'ites vicitimized by Saddam will start to point to his execution as something they should have been permitted to deal with themselves and not an event orchestrated by America.

So, here we go again. Bush will celebrate the New Year holiday (make ten safe telephone calls to screened, supportive soldiers stuck in Iraq or Afghanistan) and Iraq bleeds and bleeds and more U.S. troops get slaughtered.

The bad karma this country is building up is prodigious ... "It is a ponderous chain."

[Lochloosa]

15. ...

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

16. Impeach, Impeach, Impeach

eom

[Supersedeas]

17. and Bush is alllllmost ready with a plan of someone's devise...almost