| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Suicide bomber kills 3 MPs at Iraq parliament |
| 2007-04-12 |
| A suicide bomber killed three Iraqi lawmakers at a cafe in the parliament building on Thursday in the most serious breach of security in the heavily fortified Green Zone since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Witnesses said dozens had been hurt in the blast, which tore through the restaurant as many lawmakers were having lunch. Police said 10 people were wounded. How explosives and the bomber were smuggled into the Green Zone, a sprawling compound that is surrounded by U.S. and Iraqi checkpoints, will be the focus of investigations. The zone houses parliament, government offices and the U.S. embassy. attempt to halt Iraq's plunge into all-out sectarian civil war. Iraqiya state television said three lawmakers had been killed. Officials have named one as Mohammed Awadh, a member of the Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni bloc in parliament. A security official confirmed Awadh had been killed and said another parliamentarian was missing and presumed dead. Two other lawmakers were critically wounded, the official said. "Suddenly we heard a huge blast inside the restaurant. I saw a lot MPs wounded and bleeding," said Fouad al-Massoum, leader of the Kurdish bloc in parliament. He said security officials, fearing there might be a second explosion, ordered everyone out of the building. But no one, including lawmakers, was allowed to leave the area straight after the blast so they could be questioned, officials said. The Iraqi security official said the bomber was wearing a belt packed with explosives. Recently, the U.S. military said two suicide vests had been found inside the Green Zone. A Reuters witness said the blast took place at the cashier's register in the cafe, which is near parliament's main assembly hall. Parliament was in session on Thursday. "I saw a ball of fire and heard a huge, loud explosion. There were pieces of flesh floating in the air," said the witness who was lightly wounded in the arm. Iraqi security guards seized a television camera from a Reuters journalist and refused to give it back. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #27 Yo, Bobby, gotta clue? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 23:46 |
| #26 Paging Bobby to the Iraq Solutions courtesy phone. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 22:46 |
| #25 The Surge appears to be working I'll venture that the only reason why it's working is because the ROE were finally changed so our troops can pursue and KILL their assailants instead of trying to capture them or allow them to surrender. Why the previous ROE were ever allowed in the first place defies all reason. The fact that we must still show so much sensitivity about entering, searching or destroying Mosques remains a huge sticking point. The only way I would be comfortable leaving Iraq is if we had concluded that glassing over the Muslim Middle East is the only remaining option. Holy flurking schnidt, trailing wife! That's some strong language coming from Rantburg's demure little middle American Jewish housefrau. Right or wrong, the worst thing of all is that no one in the federal government seems to understand how nuclear annihilation in the MME (Muslim Middle East), is one of the few remaining alternatives. Of far greater insanity is how MME leaders carry on with their vicious terrorist meddling without seeming to give a moment's pause for even the slightest consideration of this stark reality. It is precisely this lack of viable options, nor proper appraisal of them at home or abroad, that permits me to so confidently predict the Muslim holocaust. NOBODY seems to get it, even those whose lives hang in the balance. For goodness sake, we've only been doing this for a scant four years! Four years of deafening silence from "moderate Islam" combined with four bloody long years of adamant resistance to all of our best overtures and efforts at saving Islam from itself is quite long enough. The depths of Muslim ingratitude have yet to be plumbed and I, for one, am unwilling to pile up enough American corpses to see how deep that pit of inequity happens to be. America will have had a bellyfull of this "nation building" stuff. I dearly hope so. Enough already. Trot out the really, really big stick and start getting ugly or fold the tent and go home. It was my hope, in the beginning, that we would eventually use our military presence in Iraq to do some major ass-kicking in both Syria and Iran. But time's running short, and I'm beginning to wonder. Likewise and, sadly, likewise. Failure to neutralize Iran will cost possible MILLIONS of lives. History will not judge kindly those who slept through this watch on Teheran's madmen. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 20:59 |
| #24 Well, one thing seems certain: by the time Bush leaves office 21 months from now, America will have had a bellyfull of this "nation building" stuff. I can't imagine any future US president, acting in response to some future 9/11-type attack, proposing another "let's introduce the savages to the wonders of democracy, that'll cure what ails them" exercise. It was my hope, in the beginning, that we would eventually use our military presence in Iraq to do some major ass-kicking in both Syria and Iran. But time's running short, and I'm beginning to wonder. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-04-12 20:38 |
| #23 The Surge appears to be working, and more troops are getting ready to join those on the ground. Pulling out now would betray all who turned in bad guys, and the many Iraqis who've chosen to join the Iraqi Army and Police, even at the risk not only to themselves but to their families. The only way I would be comfortable leaving Iraq is if we had concluded that glassing over the Muslim Middle East is the only remaining option. We knew this was going to be a long fight. For goodness sake, we've only been doing this for a scant four years! It took about that long to settle Germany after VE Day, and they didn't have a 1400 year religious war and a culture of deviousness to work around. How long did it take for South Korea to become truly democratic? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-12 20:33 |
| #22 Press on and support the troops and their commander. Even though Iraq's own governemnt betrays us at every turn and continues to get more of our troops killed needlessly? It is insane to believe that victory can be obtained from a no-win situation. Either Iraq's leadership gets on board with some real cooperation, like outlawing Sadr and the Mahdi Army or criticizing Iranian nuclear aspirations and meddling, or we need to seriously consider leaving the entire nation to twist gently in the breeze. This is like trying to apply CPR to a frenzied armed psychopath. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 20:13 |
| #21 #16 No. Press on and support the troops and their commander. Ignore the media. |
| Posted by: johnniebartlett 2007-04-12 20:03 |
| #20 #1 outlaw the wearing of body armor inside the parliament building. This should greatly cut down on the resistance to searches for explosives and remove a prime hiding spot for those explosives. I read an article from a person who was there that the armor plates were removed from body armor and explosive put it their place. If these people aren't wearing body armor themselves, they will be a lot happier to see the people around them well searched. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-04-12 20:02 |
| #19 Bobby, while we're at it, let's hear your take on what should be done. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 19:45 |
| #18 the post from bobby about zenster wanting too take the pelosi approach he has never seemed that way so why would he start now Thank you, sinse. Even if somewhat garbled at times, I appreciate your support. I have backed our campaign in Iraq from the get-go and still do now. I just want our country to proceed with some sort of coherent game plan and not the dog's breakfast that has previously been passed off for strategy. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 19:09 |
| #17 Fox sez it was a Sunni MP's bodyguard 'sploding |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-12 19:08 |
| #16 So, Zenster, at the risk of provoking your considerable ire, are you suggesting we follow the Pelosi/Murtha/Reid/Kennedy/Kerry/Durbin approach, throw up our hands, and retreat? That's a valid and real tough question, Bobby. Why you think asking a relevant question should provoke my "considerable ire" is beyond me. I'm strongly inclined to agree with Jihad Watch's Hugh Fitzgerald that letting the Shiia and Sunni factions in Iraq slaughter each other best serves American interests. Yet, with Iran looming on the military horizon, it just doesn't make any sense to abandon Iraq wholesale. Still, this nation-building bullshit is getting tired, especially with a bunch of thugs running the political show and walking the streets as well. As your own cite from Iraq the Model notes, the politicians are very much to blame for the chaos and disorder that is so endemic to the current situation. That said, if we are to succeed in Iraq at all, America needs a more unified front at home. I congratulate Bush for having rewritten the exceptionally restrictive ROE to allow for swift killing of the enemy instead of the hands-off appoach that was getting so many of our soldiers killed. Towards better consolidating America's own internal political front, I think it might be wise to temporarily retract our troop presence and give them some much needed R&R. In the interim, both the democrats and the world at large could get a crystal clear picture of exactly what would happen should the USA abruptly withdraw from Iraq. A brief interlude of full-scale civil war might finally make it clear why our continuing presence is still required. I would prefer that such a demonstration be used to convince more nations that they should join the coalition or step up their existing participation, but that's pretty much a Iraq itself desperately needs a dose of its own medicine in that they decry our presence while continuing to back the very factions that cause so much of the bloodshed. Moqtada Sadr's perverse political influence springs to mind. This is just another reason why taking Iran offline would be so useful at this point. By constraining Teheran's meddling in Iraq, a much more readable subtext might emerge. As it is, too many fingers are in the pie and it works against America's interests. Sadly, the political will required for any military intervention in Iran is slipping away with each passing day. Like I said, I advocate an experimental "return to base" vacation for our troops to inspire some |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 19:05 |
| #15 wasn't there an article the other day about them relaxing the security in the green zone after they found the explosive vest? if so look into wanted too scale down security and that is prob the person that is responsible for this. and too the post from bobby about zenster wanting too take the pelosi approach he has never seemed that way so why would he start now |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-04-12 18:51 |
| #14 For a second there I thought it said Suicide Bomber kills MP3s ... |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-04-12 18:44 |
| #13 Iraq the Model sez Everyone I talked to today was more saddened by the bridge attack than the explosion at the parliament building that killed two of its members. They all seemed to agree that if there’s anyone to blamed for that it’s the members of parliament themselves. Parliament members are famous for complaining about ‘security measures’ in the Green Zone being “insulting” to them and to Iraq’s sovereignty. They didn’t want their vehicles and guards to be searched. This is the result. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-12 17:42 |
| #12 This has the signature of an Al Quaeda in Iraq exercise. 1) High profile 2) Synchronized with other attack(s) 3) Suicide borne 4) Indifferent to who gets killed. They don't seem to (be able to) run operations like this very often; if I was either an Iraqi or Coalition official I would try not to let it distract me from the important business at hand - whatever that might be. This is really only propaganda, and that is only as effective as WE let it be. Militarily, the assassinations by the Baathists - or maybe the Iranians now - are more effective, and probably warrant more ongoing, focussed attention. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-04-12 17:22 |
| #11 So, Zenster, at the risk of provoking your considerable ire, are you suggesting we follow the Pelosi/Murtha/Reid/Kennedy/Kerry/Durbin approach, throw up our hands, and retreat? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-12 16:52 |
| #10 TW I saw somewhere they think it was a body guard of one of the Sunni Arab members. But they didnt want to say so yet, which I can understand. This is very bad. Our best hope is that this at least unveils one bad apple MP who wont trouble anyone again. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2007-04-12 16:31 |
| #9 It seems like a clever propagandist is at work: Do something spectacular and the whole world will talk about it. The sub-humans feed on comments: For ex. (Qassim Abdul-Zahra ASSOCIATED PRESS) The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations like hogs on chicken feces. |
| Posted by: SwissTex 2007-04-12 16:05 |
| #8 Who has a missing bodyguard? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-12 15:40 |
| #7 Reincarnation?" Then let's start sending them through the old pipeline right away. I'm sick of our soldiers giving their lives so that these wearisome political hacks can squabble endlessly. Iraqi politicians aren't worthy of shining an American buck private's boots. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 14:40 |
| #6 More importantly, what will it take to convince Iraq's hopelessly corrupt government that their ceaseless sectarian and tribal warfare will get them all killed if they cannot resolve to find some sort of lasting unity? Reincarnation? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-04-12 14:30 |
| #5 What will it take to galvanize the majority of the citizens to declare, "Enough"? More importantly, what will it take to convince Iraq's hopelessly corrupt government that their ceaseless sectarian and tribal warfare will get them all killed if they cannot resolve to find some sort of lasting unity? My sympathy for these morons has run out completely. They have had a golden opportunity handed to them on a silver platter yet can do nothing but perpetuate age old animosities and feuds that slaughter people in the thousands. I'd just as soon see the lot of them dragged out and shot. Replace them with another set and keep rinsing and repeating until some real progress gets made. This bullshit is killing American soldiers while these bickering maggots quarrel over whose cheating cousin unfairly won a camel race five hundred years ago. I realize that democracy is something that must be learned, but these high context socities are begining to wear a little thin. They are essentially outmoded and archaic to the point of being totally dysfunctional. Traditions be damned if they chain a people to the stone-age. And isn't that what Islam is all about? So, I guess I've answered my own question. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-12 14:07 |
| #4 Maybe the explosives will be linked to Iran. If so, and if the Iraqis would announce this it would be a big step forward. Otherwise, it will be seen as a big victory for AlQ. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-04-12 13:22 |
| #3 What will it take to galvanize the majority of the citizens to declare, "Enough"? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-12 12:47 |
| #2 Sorry about that free-floating sentence fragment. I thought I read my post through. |
| Posted by: ryuge 2007-04-12 12:39 |
| #1 another parliamentarian was missing and presumed dead. I hope that doesn't mean the boomer was a member of parliament. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2007-04-12 11:31 |