Suicide Bomber Attacks Iraqi Parliment Inside the Green Zone

[paparush]

Explosion Hits Iraqi Parliament; 2 Dead

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 12, 2007; 9:20 AM

BAGHDAD -- A bomb exploded in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone Thursday, killing at least two lawmakers and wounding 10 other people.

The blast in the parliament building came hours after a suicide truck bomb blew up a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.

The bomb in parliament went off in a cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, media reports said. In addition to the two dead, state television said at least 10 people were wounded.

After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one _ including lawmakers _ was allowed to enter or leave.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt in the blast.

The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support.
LINK

More blood on Bush's hands. Fucking surge...

[lonestarnot]

1. kick for steel pots.

[Ezlivin]

2. Another 100,000 troops should help secure the place

Or maybe that's another 1,000,000 troops?

Get ready for Surge 2.0 that will be a new and improved version of Surge 1.0 with all the upgrades.

[Blackhatjack]

3. For those who are keeping count, we are already into Surge #3....

Bush has already increased the number of 'surge' troops twice since the number he originally announced.

Or does he not count National Guard involuntarily called up who do not have proper training or equipment to be deployed?

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[Blackhatjack]

21. I stand by my comment that the NG is not being properly trained and equipped before deployment...

It is no slam on the National Guard, but rather an acknowledgement that we are not providing them with the proper training and making sure they are properly equipped before throwing them into the Iraqi environment.

They are being involuntarily deployed, and the training that the full-time troops have received before being deployed to Iraq goes way beyond anything the Guard received.

I have no idea about Texas National Guard, but I do know that a lot of the equipment that the North Carolina National Guard took with them was not designed for use in a desert environment and therefore has not held up for use over there.

[Name removed]

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[Lester222]

6. If IED losses are down by 40% then why are the .....

.... average daily casualties at an all time high? Am I missing something?

[Name removed]

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[Lester222]

11. Actually, I got the numbers from www.icasualties.org

They clearly show a gradual rising of casualties over time, when you perform a linear regression of the
monthly average values. Are you saying the data on that site are wrong?

[Zodiak]

19. No, he is hiding behind the anecdotal

and unproveable. That way you can say anything and not be challenged on it substantively. Of course this is further insulated by the claim to troopdom. After all, only a real anti-American liberal would argue against a trooper, right?

Those that have real credentials have little need to spout them off in the first few posts on a message board. The value of their information should speak for itself.

[Zodiak]

7. "The majority of the Iraqi people are happy to have us there"

Show me a poll that says that. You know, there was just a HUGE set of protests in Iraq asking us to leave just two days ago. The prime minister wants us to leave, and the world wants us to leave. And casualties of Americans is up since the surge, and so are the Iraqis.

Where are you getting your news? Fox? Worldnet daily? Newsmax?

[Name removed]

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[Neecy]

12. why aren't you there?

Or your kids? Why is your contribution limited to trolling message boards to support the war? Why not fight in it? Are you a -gasp- coward?

[Name removed]

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[Zodiak]

17. Those are anecdotal and unproveable.

If you want to play reindeer games on DU, you need to not hide behind "I'm a troop" BS with unverifiable crap. If you serve, thank you, but that does NOT make you some kind of vaunted expert and does not give you more credence to be heard on DU. There are vaunted experts who are collecting info in Iraq who are far more credible than our propagandized, holed-up-in-the-green zone military.

Polls gague people's opinions....troops have big guns in their hands and scare the crap out of people. I'll listen to the polls, thank you, rather than the unproven and anecdotal assertions of some brand-new DUer.

Verifiable facts are the grist of debate. Unproven assertions and internet claims of expertise on an anonymous message board do not cut it.

[magellan]

8. The same way the death of Palestinian and Iraqi civilians by Israeli and US weapons

...is blamed on Hamas and "al Qaeda".

[Name removed]

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[magellan]

16. Wrong interpretation

If Hamas blows up civilians, it's Hamas's fault. If the Israelis kill civilians in the pursuit of Hamas operatives, it's Hamas's fault. The same (ir)rationale was used by Israel in Lebanon and is used by us in Iraq. It's NEVER our/Israel's fault when civilians die no matter who pulls the trigger. That's what I call BS.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[Poiuyt]

15. Enjoy your stay here

[Blackhatjack]

22. So you and George Bush are convinced the surge is working?

Your statistics are not verifiable, and do not dovetail with the reported rise in deaths and attacks since the so-called surge began.

Are you in Iraq? Have you been getting your stats from Bush(who also is not in Iraq)?

They sure do not back up what Gates is telling Congress. Imagine that?

[Spazito]

18. bush using the term "surge" is just different way of saying "Bring it on"

As we can see, his challenge has ended with the same results as his original "challenge", US soldiers and Iraqis are dying in even greater numbers.