Mortars hit Green Zone as Americans celebrate holiday

[Cooley Hurd]

Source: USAToday/AP

BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of mortars struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone on Thursday, Iraqi police said, in an apparent attack coinciding with the American celebration of Thanksgiving.
About 10 blasts were heard in central Baghdad just before 5 p.m., and a huge plume of black smoke rose into the sky as the sun was setting. The U.S. government public address system in the Green Zone also warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows.

An Iraqi police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said the blasts were caused by mortars that landed in the Green Zone. U.S. military and embassy officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
</snip>

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-11-22-iraq_N.htm

[mallard]

1. adds to the latest claims

things are turning back to normal

[Bonobo]

2. Bush's inflatable turkey blew?

[Eagle_Eye]

4. Is Bush or Cheney there to enjoy the carnage?

[gulliver]

15. I think this is why Bush didn't go.

You can only pull that trick once. The Bushies will probably fly the little feller into Bhagdad at least one more time. But they can't do it on an American holiday any more. Imagine if the mortars had landed in the Green Zone while Bush was there. The Bushies know that risk. They'll time Bush's next visit like every other surprise visit, for maximum political affect at home. They won't plan the visit for a time when insurgents might anticipate it.

[Eagle_Eye]

16. Yea, but he would miss seeing a soldier get his head blown off in person

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

3. Likely in reference to this...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-11-22-iraq_N.htm

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Thanks for the link, yibbehobba...

:thumbsup:

[acmavm]

6. Probably. I think that as the sectarian violence winds down it will pick up

again against the troops and the Americans over there.

There will always be violence over there until someone ends up top dog. Which means the Sunnis will need to beat out the Shi'ites or the Shi'ites will have to beat out the Sunnis. And the winner will have to make sure the Kurds don't walk off with a third of the country and the richest oil fields. And then, the winner will have to get rid of the American presence in Iraq.

That sounds like a tall order, but hell, they've thrown out invaders before. And this is their home field. We're just the visiting team. They have the advantage.

[dave29]

7. isn't McCain over there?

:(

[Purveyor]

10. Lieberman too?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. They're both supposed to be in Iraq

Where they were going to be exactly was not disclosed.

I'm sure they'll come home with stories of peace and joy in the streets.

[Progressive Friend]

14. Yeah, but in the deepest bunker

[madrchsod]

8. "they" have that place plotted down to the square foot

the problem is they lack decent guidance systems. if they ever figure out that problem well it`s going to be a tough place to work for everyone. by the way, most of the people who have higher security ratings are foreign nationals and the iraqi`s are treated as "people of interest" with-in the american green zone. nice place to work.

[LynnTheDem]

9. And even MORE...

"PROGRESS"!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. I just saw this headline here: US reports ‘phenomenal’ drop in Iraq violence

Link to LBN article: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3074406&mesg_id=3074406

However I first had read Lexis Nexis and saw these headlines: http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayCiteList&orgId=574&topicId=100007188



Iraq - All

November 22, 2007

ROUNDUP: At least 45 killed in violence around Iraq

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 22, 2007 Thursday 3:00 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Iraq Conflicts ROUNDUP: At least 45 killed in violence around Iraq Baghdad At least 45 people were killed, includingmilitants, civilians, volunteer fighters and soldiers in separateinc...


Two al-Qaida attacks kill 34 in Iraq

UPI, November 22, 2007 Thursday 9:13 AM EST
Two al-Qaida attacks in Baghdad and Baquba killed at least 34 people Thursday, Iraqi officials reported. In the Baghdad attack, 15 Iraqi soldiers and militia allied with U.S. forces were killed and ei...


EXTRA: Eight anti-al-Qaeda fighters, three soldiers killed in Iraq

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 22, 2007 Thursday 12:28 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Iraq Conflicts EXTRA: Eight anti-al-Qaeda fighters, three soldiers killed in Iraq Baghdad Eight anti-al-Qaeda fighters and three Iraqisoldiers were killed Thursday by militants disguis...


1ST LEAD: At least 22 killed in separate incidents around Iraq

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 22, 2007 Thursday 1:26 PM EST
DPA POLITICS Iraq Conflicts 1ST LEAD: At least 22 killed in separate incidents around Iraq Baghdad At least 22 people were killed, includingcivilians, volunteer fighters and army soldiers, and six ...


Two bomb attacks kill three people in northern Iraq

Xinhua General News Service, November 22, 2007 Thursday 8:40 AM EST<[br /> A suicide car bomb and a roadside bomb targeting police patrols killed three people and wounded 13 others in the city of Mosul in northern Nineveh province on Thursday, a provincial police sourc...


Iraqi forces kill 19 al-Qaeda militants in Baquba

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 22, 2007 Thursday 11:44 AM EST
DPA POLITICS Iraq Conflicts Iraqi forces kill 19 al-Qaeda militants in Baquba Baghdad Nineteen gunmen were killed Thursday by jointIraqi army-police forces who had conducted an operation in BaqubaT...


Mahmur camp in N. Iraq surrounded by Iraqi soldiers

Xinhua General News Service, November 22, 2007 Thursday 6:40 AM EST
A large camp in northern Iraq has been surrounded by Iraqi army, reported a Xinhua correspondent at the Turkish-Iraqi border on Thursday. Iraqi soldiers set up check points in front of the ...


Shiites condemn Iran's interventions in southern Iraq

Xinhua General News Service, November 22, 2007 Thursday 7:10 AM EST
An association of various Shiite Muslim organizations condemned the Iranian terrorist interference in Iraq's southern provinces. "It is widely known that the Iranians have taken over all Ira...


WAR UPDATE: Six killed by suicide car bomber in Iraq; A U.S. soldier and Iraqi interpreter also dead from a roadside device

Newsday (New York), November 22, 2007 Thursday
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber blasted a police checkpoint outside the courthouse in Ramadi yesterday, killing up to six people and wounding as many as 22 in the first such attack in months in the for...


THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: SPENDING PROPOSAL; Iraq budget focuses on public works projects

Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2007 Thursday
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is proposing a $7.4-billion boost in public spending next year in an aggressive budget designed to stimulate industry and speed up repairs of this country's tattered ...


THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: A NEW APPROACH; In Iraq, a green idea for saving lives of troops

Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2007 Thursday
When a little-known agency of the U.S. Army asked Joe Amadee III to come up with an idea for saving lives in Iraq, it was probing for some kind of a contraption. After all, the Rapid Equipping Force,...


THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: CAR BOMBING; REFUGEES IN SYRIA; Suicide blast kills 6 in Iraq

Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2007 Thursday
A car bomb killed at least six people Wednesday in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, shattering the calm of an area that in recent months had been considered one of the safest in the country.


Roadside bomb kills U.S. soldier in Baghdad

Xinhua General News Service, November 22, 2007 Thursday 2:25 AM EST
An American soldier was killed and three others were injured when a sophisticated armored piercing roadside bomb detonated near their combat patrol in Baghdad, the U. S. military said on Thursday.

-------------------------------


Progress my ass.


Lynn, I hope you and yours are doing well.

[mallard]

17. The Green Zone is blowing out a huge smoke flume ...

... and CNN doesn't even report it!

What an outrage when they've just been making a big deadl saying the situation's calming down in Baghdad.

Nothing like honesty from the people we count on most - our war masters in DC and the 'free' Press.

[ryanmuegge]

13. Yeah, things are really calming down over there.

[stillcool]

18. bombs away...

October 31, 2007
To Bomb, Or Not To Bomb
Charles Peña

One of the most famous lines penned by William Shakespeare is from Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be, or not to be: that is the question." In Iraq, the question is whether to bomb or not to bomb. So far this year, the U.S. military is bombing more than last year (1,140 air strikes in the first nine months of this year compared with 229 in all of 2006, which does not include attacks by helicopter gunships) – more, in fact, than the last three years combined.

http://www.antiwar.com/pena/index.php?articleid=11834

[Rhiannon12866]

19. Jeez, I heard on the news yesterday that things were really improving in Iraq!

That, and the recent break in the Natalee Holloway case.:eyes: