Powerful explosion rocks Baghdad city centre(updated 45 killed, 140 wounded)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A massive explosion has erupted in central Baghdad in an apparent attack on a popular market area which has frequently been targeted by insurgent bombers.

A massive cloud of dust rose into the sky above the Shorja Market, the main commercial centre of the Iraqi capital, followed by black smoke and a smaller secondary blast.

Fifteen minutes later a third blast went off nearby Monday.

The explosion detonated precisely at the end of a 15-minute pause in work ordered by the Iraqi government to mark the first anniversary of a bomb attack on a revered Shiite shrine, which triggered a wave of sectarian violence.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070212/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestbaghdad_070212094841


Thick smoke rises from the site of an explosion in central Baghdad. A bomb attack has rocked central Baghdad ripping through a popular market area which has frequently been targeted by insurgent bombers, a defence official said.(AFP/Joseph Eid)

At least 9 dead in Baghdad market blasts

BAGHDAD, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded near popular markets in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens, police sources and witnesses said.

A car bomb near the Shorja wholesale market in central Baghdad killed at least four people, police said. It had also set a building that houses shops selling clothes ablaze. Fire engines and ambulences rushed to the area.

At the Bab al-Sharji market, also in central Baghdad and home to Sunni Arab and Shi'ite traders, at least five people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded, police sources said.

Dozens were wounded in both attacks.
link; http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12865108.htm

BOMBING AT BAGHDAD'S SHORJA MARKET KILLS 31, WOUNDS 77 - POLICE
12 Feb 2007 10:10:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/YAT236337.htm

Bomb kills 45 in Baghdad markets
12 Feb 2007 10:41:04 GMT
Source: Reuters


By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Two bomb attacks at popular markets in Baghdad killed 45 people and wounded 140 on Monday as Iraqis marked the first anniversary of a Shi'ite shrine bombing that has pitched the country to the brink of civil war.

Police gave a combined toll for the two attacks.

Iraqi state television said a car bomb near the Shorja wholesale market in central Baghdad had killed 40 people. A Reuters cameraman saw people on fire and more than 30 ambulances arriving.

The car bomb had also set a building that houses shops selling clothes ablaze, as well as other shops in the street and more than a dozen cars, another Reuters reporter said. The blast echoed across central Baghdad and sent huge clouds of thick black smoke into the air.

At the Bab al-Sharji market, also in central Baghdad and home to Sunni Arab and Shi'ite traders, at least five people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded, police sources said.

more:http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12726849.htm

[Binka]

1. Gee The Surge Sure Is Working

Not. :cry: Fuck Bush and FUCK this Illegal Occupation. Six weeks until Ben goes back. :cry:

[Straight Shooter]

18. Binka, when I woke up this morning and thought of Iraq, I thought of Ben.

Now I just logged onto DU and yours is the first post I see. I'm so sorry, sweetie. I don't know what else to say.

:hug:

[truthisfreedom]

2. I can't imagine living in Iraq now. My heart goes out to those people!

We totally screwed their nation. We let everyone down by letting bushco take over... impeachment should have been over 5 years ago, when bushco first failed us by not protecting us against 9-11.

[maxsolomon]

20. a lot less live there now then did 4 years ago

millions of professionals have left for syria & jordan

millions internally displaced

hundreds of thousands dead

all the kings horses & all the kings men couldn't put humpty dumpty together again. iraq is shattered. partition now.

[maddezmom]

3. Reuters: Bomb kills at least 64 in Baghdad markets over 150 wounded

BAGHDAD, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Three bomb attacks at markets in Baghdad killed at least 64 people and wounded 150 on Monday as Iraqis marked the first anniversary of a Shi'ite shrine bombing that pitched the country to the brink of civil war.

In the deadliest attack, police said two car bombs exploded in quick succession in Shorja wholesale market in central Baghdad, killing at least 59 people. A Reuters cameraman saw people on fire and more than 30 ambulances arriving.

The car bombs set a building that houses clothes shops ablaze, as well as other shops in the street and more than a dozen cars, another Reuters reporter said. The blasts echoed across central Baghdad and sent huge clouds of thick black smoke into the air.

At the Bab al-Sharji market, also in central Baghdad and home to Sunni Arab and Shi'ite traders, at least five people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded, police sources said.
link: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12726849.htm


BBC reporting 59 killed and over 150 injured
But correspondents on the ground still expect the casuality figure to rise. :(

[xchrom]

4. welcome to the surge.

[antiimperialist]

5. Bombs kill at least 68 people in Iraq (Monday)

In a largely Shia region, as usual.
Blame Iran anyway!


http://breakingnews.nypost.com/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=NYNYP&SECTION=HOME

[pampango]

17. I agree that blaming Iran makes no sense.

Iran "could" have an interest in attacking the troops of the Great Satan in a Muslim country, but not Shia civilians. (And there is no proof of the former either.)

The attackers here could be Sunni "insurgents" resisting American occupation by attacking civilians, thereby creating chaos and prompting a troop withdrawal. (That would be bloodthirsty strategy, but perhaps a successful one in the end. At least if the attackers are of this mind, there is hope that the slaughter would stop once we withdraw.

The other possibility it is just the Sunni side of the civil war killing as many Shia as possible as fast as possible. (We saw much the same killing in the Balkans in the 1990's.) If that is the case and the level of mutual violence is at such a high level, pulling out security forces of any kind (unless you replace them with some from another source) will likely not help the killing. (The lid was only put on the violence in the Balkans when the UN went in and stayed.)

Of course, one last wonderful option is the the violence is a combination of the two above. "Patriotic" opponents of an American occupation who are able to "kill two birds with one stone", so to speak, by creating the chaos mentioned in the first possibility and killing some Shiites as a bonus to further their civil war objectives.

If one accepts the first option, we should get out as soon as possible. The Iraqis can handle the rest, since the violence should decline when the reason for it is gone. To the extent that the mass killing of civilians is the result of a civil war, in whole or in part, which we helped create through an illegal invasion and incompetent occupation, we should do all we can to be sure that some security force replaces us to provide some protection for the civilians.

[maddezmom]

6. Bombings across central Baghdad kill at least 71, wound more than 170

Bombings across central Baghdad kill at least 71, wound more than 170
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A deadly string of three explosions ripped through commercial areas of central Baghdad around midday Monday, killing at least 71 people and wounding more than 170 others, police said.

The bombings were sandwiched around a 15-minute commemoration marking the year anniversary, on the Islamic calendar, of the February bombing of Askariya Mosque, the revered Shiite shrine in Samarra also known as the Golden Mosque.

And they come during a renewed Iraq-led security clampdown in the volatile capital.

The February 2006 Samarra bombing is blamed for the eruption over the past year of sectarian violence between Shiite and Sunni Arabs.

link:http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/12/monday/index.html

[SpiralHawk]

7. "Don't worry. I'm perfectly safe and comfortable." - Commander AWOL

"My sidekick Dickie 'Five Military Deferments" Cheney and I are
having a swell time counting up our oil and munitions profits,
and having some laughs with our well-heeled republicon cronies
out on the golf links.

Oh yeah, too bad about YOUR sons and daughters in uniform.
Heh, heh. Smirk, smirk, smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[antiimperialist]

8. Worry not. Australia will send more troops. Right Howard?

I don't think so.

[pokercat999]

9. Who cares? It wasn't inside the green zone, obviously

the only place of importance in Iraq.:sarcasm:


I mean after-all......that's where all the money is to be made.

[Eugene]

10. AP: Bombs kill at least 80 as Shiites mark anniversary of mosque attack

Bombs kill at least 80 as Shiites mark anniversary of mosque attack

Updated 2/12/2007 8:11 AM ET

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thunderous explosions and dense black smoke swirled through the center
of Baghdad Monday when at least two car bombs — one parked in an underground garage
— tore through a crowded marketplace, setting off dozens of secondary explosions and
killing at least 71 people, police said. Another bombing nearby killed at least nine.

The blasts shattered the city center on the first anniversary, according to the Muslim
lunar calendar, of the bombing of the important Shiite Golden Dome shrine in Samarra.
That attack by al-Qaeda in Iraq militants set off the torrent of sectarian bloodletting
that has turned Baghdad and much of central Iraq into a battleground.

A column of smoke hundreds of feet wide billowed a thousand feet into the air above the
market near the east bank of the Tigris River and near the Central Bank building.

-snip-

The worst carnage occurred about 12:25 p.m. shortly after the Iraqi government called
for a 15-minute period of commemoration for the bombing of the golden domed shrine in
Samarra a year ago.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-02-12-violence_x.htm

[Dracos]

11. At least 90 killed on day marking Golden Mosque attack

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three explosions ripped through central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 90 people, amid memorials marking last year's attack on a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, police said.

More than 190 people were wounded in the bombings, sandwiched around a brief commemoration on the anniversary of the attack on Al-Askariya Mosque, also known as the Golden Mosque.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/12/iraq.main/index.html

[trumad]

12. Wow!

Imagine for a moment us entering Iran? We'd have both Iraq and Iran in utter chaos.

[habitual]

13. Backup Baghdad Plan - eliminate the population

Baghdad HAS been secured: Population 38 (all in prison)

[Eugene]

14. Meanwhile another 47 dead in other violence across Iraq

(Reuters)

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Feb 12
12 Feb 2007 13:14:57 GMT
Source: Reuters

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1230 GMT on Monday:

* Denotes new or updated item.

-snip-

*BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb at the Bab al-Sharji market in central Baghdad killed at least
five people, police said.

-snip-

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces found 27 bodies across Baghdad throughout Sunday, police
sources said.

MOSUL - Police found the bodies of three people, including a student, in the northern city
of Mosul, police said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA231334.htm

[gauguin57]

15. "Mission Accomplished!"

Jeezus ... WHEN WHEN WHEN are our Congresscritters gonna stand up to Bush and say, "THIS IS CLEARLY NOT WORKING, you Chimp-for-Brains! We must start getting out NOW!"

I think this country needs a huge ... and I mean GI-NORMOUS huge ... I'm talking a MILLIONS-OF-PEOPLE-HUGE anti-Iraq-war protest day through the streets of every major U.S. city ... during the regular business week. Maybe that'll get the Senate, in particular, to sit up and take notice of the WILL OF THE PEOPLE, and get off its ASS and get its members to start doing what WE THE PEOPLE paid them to do ... represent the will of the people of this country.

[Swede]

16. CNN reporting 250 dead.

This is just getting better and better. Let's send a bunch of young soldiers into the middle of this.

[Felinity]

19. Think about it

We have no idea precisely who is bombing who in Iraq. It's hard for me to believe that the Sunni's would bid up the escalation like this, particularly around the anniversary of another hideous tactical mistake. Then again, maybe they are that dumb, they take pride out of their own children, husbands, an wives blowing themselves up.

But really, was it the Sunnis backed by the Saudis? The Shiah backed by Iran? The Shiah trained by us? Our black ops making sure the tension is kept high? Saudi infiltrators? Al Quaeda & the Mouseketeers? The most political capital in this situation goes to the Shiah-who gain sympathy as victims.

I liked the quote in the OP: " . . pitched the country to the brink of civil war"

DO YOU THINK?

D'ya think one of these times they will attack our troops? Will it be any better when we deploy small numbers of troops and embed them with the (highly trustworthy) Iraq forces? So then we'll have many incidents of just losing a few soldiers at a time?

Might I recommend Precipitous Withdrawal?

Edit to finish incomplete thought.

[maxsolomon]

21. why wouldn't it be the sunni insurgency?

this was saddam's strategy from the start - it doesn't matter that he's not there to see it.

make the country ungovernable - kill all collaborators - its straight out of Sun Tzu.

the sooner Bagdhad is divided into a sunni west & a shia east, and all traffic across the bridges shut off or controlled by a 'neutral' party, the better. i'd imagine the madhi army & the badr brigades have had just about enough by now & will shortly ethnic cleanse all remaining east bank sunni neighborhoods.

if we don't get in their way.

[Felinity]

22. Sure, why not?

Could be, and probably we will never know exactly who started what.

I just thought the Sunnis, being a minority and having no oil, would be loathe to invite more retribution by the bigger, richer bullies. But I hadn't thought of the "just plain evil" scenario you wrote.

[maxsolomon]

23. its not evil

there is no such thing.

the sunnis have been the 'rich' of iraq during the hussein era. what we see is a combination of groups:
1. baathist "dead enders" - republican guards providing logistics, strategy, training, leadership
2. sunni civilians - financing, leg work, attacks, but not suicide bombers, men like those described by col. kurtz below.
3. foreign jihadis - suicide troops

cheney & rumsfeld were outstrategized. the only way to 'win' at this point is to decimate the population with brutality to the point where they cannot resist anymore. i would hope that we prefer defeat to victory at that cost to our souls.


KURTZ
" I've seen horrors...horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call
me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that...But
you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is
necessary to those who do not know what horror means.
Horror. Horror has a face...And you must make a friend of horror. Horror and
moral terrorare your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared.
They are truly enemies. I remember when I was with Special Forces...Seems
a thousand centuries ago...We went into a camp to innoculate the children.
We left the camp after we had innoculated the children for Polio, and this old
man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went
back there and they had come and hacked off every innoculated arm. There
they were in a pile...A pile of little arms. And I remember...I...I...I cried...
I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I
wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want
to forget. And then I realized...like I was shot...Like I was shot with a
diamond...a diamond bullet right through my forehead...And I thought:
My God...the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect,
genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were
stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not
monsters...These were men...trained cadres...these men who fought with
their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with
love...but they had the strength...the strength...to do that. If I had ten
divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You
have to have men who are moral...and at the same time who are able to
utilize their primordal instincts to kill without feeling...without passion...
without judgement...without judgement. Because it's judgement that
defeats us. "

[antiimperialist]

24. 117 killed in Iraq

32 bodies found scattered in Baghdad.
79 killed by bombs in Baghdad
1 primary school guard killed in Kut
1 police officer found dead in Falahiya
3 bodies found in Mosul
1 policeman killed in Samawa

link