Worst violence since U.S. pullback hits Iraq with 60 dead

Friday 10th July, 07:14 AM JST

BAGHDAD —

Bombs killed 60 people in Iraq on Thursday in the worst violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas last week, and American forces released five Iranian officials suspected of aiding Shiite insurgents.

U.S. officials said they believe the Iranians, detained in northern Iraq in January 2007, had facilitated attacks on American-led forces but handed them over to the Iraqi government at its request because they were obliged to do so under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

The U.S. State Department said it was concerned their release could present a security threat to American troops in Iraq.

Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, called the release a “good initiative” that could encourage dialogue between Washington and Tehran, which are longtime foes.

Iranian Embassy spokesman Amir Arshadi said Iraq had transferred the Iranians, described by their government as diplomats, to the embassy. Washington believes they are associated with the Quds Force, part of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, and that they trained Iraqi militants.

The carnage within Iraqi borders Thursday was a sign that insurgents remain intent on destabilizing Iraq as the United States shifts its focus to the war in Afghanistan. Attacks are down sharply from past years of war and militants have been driven from many strongholds, but they routinely inflict casualties in Baghdad and northern Iraq, a cauldron of ethnic and sectarian tension.

The most lethal attack Thursday was in the northern city of Tal Afar, where women sat in the street amid torn and bloodied bodies in the aftermath of suicide bombings, wailing and beating their chests in grief. Several men crouched and wept into their hands. Others rushed the wounded to ambulances; some used a bed sheet as a makeshift stretcher.

In a statement on his Web site, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani condemned the attacks and said the “forces of evil and terrorism” were trying in vain to demoralize Iraqi security forces and the civilian population.

Some 130,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but they have a much lower profile and are preparing for a complete pullout by the end of 2011. Iraqi attitudes are mixed, with some rejoicing over the absence of American troops in their streets and a new sense of sovereignty, and others worried that extremists will now have more freedom to operate.

“Our security forces are still weak, with poor intelligence,” said Saeed Rahim, a government employee in Baghdad. “Deploying more unqualified troops into the streets does not necessarily lead to better results.”

The day’s violence began at 6:30 a.m., when a suicide bomber in a police uniform and carrying a radio and a pistol knocked on the door of an investigator in the anti-terrorism police force in Tal Afar. When the officer opened the door, the bomber detonated his explosive belt, killing the officer, his wife and son, said Maj Gen Khalid al-Hamadani, police chief of the northern Ninevah province.

As people gathered in the aftermath, another suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt, al-Hamadani said. The coordinated attack killed a total of 38 people and injured 66. Army Brig Abdul-Rahman Abu Raghef said the first suicide bomber was a local resident who had been jailed for one year on suspicion of terrorism, but was released in an amnesty in June.

A day earlier, car bombs in two Shiite villages near Mosul, another northern Iraqi city, killed 16 civilians and injured more than two dozen.

Haneen Qaddo, a lawmaker representing Shiites in the Mosul region, complained about a “big security vacuum” in the north and said Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, should withdraw from some areas and allow Iraqi army units to deploy. Tensions between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds, who run a virtual mini-state in part of northern Iraq, are considered a major threat to long-term stability.

Factions are maneuvering for control of Kirkuk, a disputed northern city in an oil-rich area that is seen as a flash point for conflict. Police there said a civilian bystander died in a bomb attack on a police patrol on Thursday.

Insurgents also struck Baghdad on Thursday morning, detonating bombs that killed 18 people and injured dozens. Eight of them died and 30 were injured in coordinated blasts near an outdoor market in the Shiite district of Sadr City, said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, spokesman for the city’s operations command center.

Hassan Abdullah, a vegetable salesman, said he heard the first blast and went to see what was happening when a second bomb hidden in trash about 100 meters away exploded. He was taken to a hospital with hand and leg injuries.

In the Karrada district of central Baghdad, one civilian died in a bomb attack on the convoy of Central Bank Gov Sinan al-Shibibi, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The governor was unharmed.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.S. had to release the Iranians under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect in January. Kelly said the release was not part of a deal or prisoner exchange with Tehran.

He said Iraq has issued arrest warrants for all non-Iraqi detainees held by American forces and asked the U.S. to transfer them to the Iraqi government’s custody.

Kelly described the five Iranians as being “associated with” the Quds force. Kelly said the possibility of the five creating security problems in Iraq was “a big concern.”

A senior Iraqi government official said on condition of anonymity that the Americans had advised Iraqi counterparts that the Iranians should leave the country.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military said it was investigating the death of a U.S. soldier who had been found “unresponsive” on a military base.

___

Associated Press Writers Qassim Adbul-Zahra and Saad Abdul-Kadir in Baghdad and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

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Latest 15 of 49 Total Comments Show All

SushiSake3 at 04:22 PM JST - 11th July

SushiSake3: Oh, and let's not forget the possibly hundreds of thousands killed, many more injured and maimed, the 4.25 million who were uprooted and fled, and the effects that depleted uranium will have on their people and soil for decades to come thanks to U.S. ordinance.

Superlib - "All lies said by a man who knows he lying but trying to gain support from people who aren't intelligent enough to know the difference."

You're saying thousands have not been killed and injured, that DU is not causing injuries and illnesses (among Iraqis and Americans) and that no one was uprooted and displaced?

Denial, denial, denial - Can you see why no one takes you seriously on this board?
SushiSake3 at 04:29 PM JST - 11th July

Superlib, I challenge you to prove where my statement is wrong and I look forward to a good laugh. :-)

Here's a link that is a start to showing why your claim I was lying was such a joke:

"U.N.: More than 4 million Iraqis displaced"

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19055852/

You'll have to try harder next time instead of simply posting totally false claims to back up a non-existant point.
Gombei424Canada at 07:35 PM JST - 11th July

SushiSake3: Oh, and let's not forget the possibly hundreds of thousands killed, many more injured and maimed, the 4.25 million who were uprooted and fled, and the effects that depleted uranium will have on their people and soil for decades to come thanks to U.S. ordinance.

Bang on, again, my fine friend. Your posting is simply fantastic, and the few remaining supporters here of the worst president ever, from the get-go (that would be bush, for certain FOOLS her) simply can NOT trump you,and so I am rolling around on the floor laughing at them, and my arse is coming off.

The invasion of Iraq was based on lies from the loser bush and his loser friends in Texas.In the end they couldn't even get the oil they wanted.Hahaha ha.

Well, anyways, Obama continues to amaze, but if things get worse in Iraq(which they WILL, and EVERYBODY knows it) it will still be bush's fault.
Sarge at 09:28 PM JST - 11th July

"Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died needlessly since the invasion"

Can you prove that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died ( excluding the bad guys and people over 75 )? Thanks a whole lot in advance.
buddha4brains at 09:42 PM JST - 11th July

Can you prove that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died ( excluding the bad guys and people over 75 )?

Sarge, do you have evidence to the contrary? Please share. You know, millions of non-combatants were killed in WWII though some would deny that fact. The Iraq War has lasted longer than WWII and 100s of thousands does not seem an exaggeration.
goodDonkey at 10:50 PM JST - 11th July

Alphaape said:

the violence is done by Iraqi's against other Iraqi's? It't [It's] there [their] country (as so many who opposed the war said and I agree with), so if they can't get their act together after all of the crap they have been through, then they are ingrates.

They did not violate "sanctions" as you said. So don't give me this "I'll type slowly crap." They violated a UN resolution; UN Security Council resolution 707 (1991), UN Security Council RESOLUTION 687 (1991) and UN Security Council RESOLUTION 688 (1991) to be specific. They can violate "provisions" of a resolution but like I initially said they can violate resolutions or agreements. But you insisted once again in your last post that they violated "sanctions." Sanctions are imposed after resolutions are violated. So when you say "so I hope that you can get this." I already got it and I am still waiting for you to understand. I was well aware of the No-Fly zone imposed; I have mentioned it many times when people were trying to say our country was in some, no any danger from Iraq the time. Unlike Alphaape's statement the no-fly zone was never explicit but interpreted from United Nations Security Council Resolution 688.

http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0687.htm

http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0688.htm

http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0707.htm

Here is a list of the UN resolutions concerning Iraq just in case you want to go through them for yourself.

http://www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0707.htm

Your accuracy leaves much to be desired. But it is your logic that I find most disturbing. However your reference to me being slow is hilarious. I am very interested in where you derived the part where we may resume the conflict? “hose sanctions that I talked about were put in place after the first Gulf War, that did have a clause in them that said that the U.N. and others had the right to "resume" hostilities against Iraq if they are violated. “ There is no part of the resolution that says anything about resuming hostilities. For the life of me I can't figure out why people just make stuff up!

... what does being conservative have to do with the fact that the violence is done by Iraqi's against other Iraqi's?

That's a joke right? The Neo-Con movement had been planning this for years. Wolfowitz developed this policy years before we reentered Iraq. If you want to believe in the Republican Politburo's part line of "this was an act to liberate Iraqi people" that is just fine. But why do you have to insist that a people who had no say over the matter are ingrates. Alphaape said "but look at how much we have done there to "rebuild" and tried to make up for it." So what your basically saying is they are ingrates for not being thankful we rebuilt some of the things we destroyed either through intentional or unintentional consequences of the war we perpetrated. Could "beware of Greeks bearing gifts" have a more poignant application?
BeaverCleaver at 10:56 PM JST - 11th July

Sarge-"Can you prove that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died ( excluding the bad guys and people over 75 )? Thanks a whole lot in advance."

I don't need to. No matter how many you think died needlessly in Iraq, the general figure of hundreds of thousands is going to be a lot more accurate than saying Saddam killed millions.

Moderator: Comparisons to the Saddam era are irrelevant.
Alphaape at 11:58 AM JST - 12th July

goodDonkey, if it was such a Neo-Con plan as you suggest, why is it that oil is still going up, and no one is really making any profits on the oil from Iraq. The oil companies are making money, but not from Iraqi oil.

As far as ingrates, if they disagree with each other, do they have to bomb each other, or is it all the US's fault. At what point do they take some accountability for thier own actions. OK, so we bombed and invaded them. I get it, but the last time I checked, we are not going out and taking new territory actually we are pulling back,so why do they need to still blow up innocents. Since you seem to be such in the know, why don't you enlighten me so I can understand.
SuperLib at 02:05 PM JST - 12th July

adaydream: Lieing. I don't lie. I don't go in back rooms and dream up plans to attack a country for about 23 different reasons, based on the time questioned.

Bush doesn't lie, either. He just distorts, leaves out information, twists things around. So who does it more....you or Bush?

And thanks for your links. One says 150,000 people have died. The other says it's over a million. Which should I believe?
adaydream at 02:20 PM JST - 12th July

SuperLib, when you...

He just distorts, leaves out information, twists things around

and knowingling do it, that lies.

I sent both links purposely. No matter the numbers you may believe, at least 150K to over 1Mil have died in a war that george bush distorted the facts, left out thruths and twisted information to get people to believe lies.

And after all that, we're down to trying to get the hell out of Iraq with some level of dignity for the fiasco george bush started. < :-)
TokyoHustla at 02:22 PM JST - 12th July

I would go with the low figure. All deaths in Iraq have come at the hands of Al-Quaeda butchers, who are killing Americans and Iraqis while the US Peacekeeping Force tries to keep the peace. Remember: Every single death in Iraq was caused by the terrorists.
SuperLib at 02:37 PM JST - 12th July

SushiSake3: You're saying thousands have not been killed and injured, that DU is not causing injuries and illnesses (among Iraqis and Americans) and that no one was uprooted and displaced?

Oh is that was your claim is now? Seems to have changed a bit....."hundreds of thousands" has changed to "thousands"......"4.25 million" has changed to "no one". And let's skip the whole DU argument, that's for the especially weak minded. You can put on your dog and pony show for daydream but it's beneath me.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19055852/

Nice article. From June 2007. Lemme guess....it's probably the highest number you could find so you bookmarked it? Here's my challenge to you: find a higher number. :) I doubt you can because if you had found a higher number you'd already be using it. Because that's what you do. Bush would do the same.

And by the way, what's the cost of the war? I haven't seen totals from you for a while.... I believe your last claims where that the US has spent over $3 trillion? Or did you finally clean up that little grammar trick as well? Why use facts when distorting reality gets a more emotional response.... That and bold text, apparently.

I'd especially like to see your links showing how the war was the catalyst for the current recession. Still have no confirmation on that, but you've throw it out there so many times you must have some information on it besides your imagination.

Honestly, you could have worked for Bush. I think he'd like you....a lot.
adaydream at 02:42 PM JST - 12th July

TokyoHustla at 02:22 PM JST - 12th July

Every single death in Iraq was caused by the terrorists.

I guess you just work up. We killed thousands during our initial "Shock and Aw" US military contractors have killed many many. We have actually murdered a few ourselves. < :-)
adaydream at 03:16 PM JST - 12th July

If you don't want the truth, it's not there. If you want the truth, look for it.

I don't care a bit about your religious hulla-ballu. This is just one link that gives facts. < :-)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0925-02.htm
smithinjapan at 03:34 PM JST - 12th July

TokyoHustla: "Remember: Every single death in Iraq was caused by the terrorists."

Hahaha... wow... denial is alive and well. Are you saying then that, let's say, the boys of Haditha were terrorists? or are you just wrong? Which is it?