Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Los Angeles Times
March 6, 2007
Pg. 1
A suicide attacker kills 30 at the longtime haunt of the Iraqi cultured set.
By Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — For decades, the Mutanabi Street book mart was a feeding ground for Iraq's intellectuals, serving up a rich menu of history and philosophy texts, novels and biographies, and atlases and manuscripts to the Middle East's most voracious readers.
On Monday, it proved yet another rich target for a suicide bomber, who left 30 dead and 60 wounded in one more grisly attack that evaded Baghdad's security crackdown.
The bomber detonated a sedan packed with explosives while sitting in a traffic jam in the area, shattering what had been a crystalline spring day.
The explosion left shoppers and sellers screaming and crying amid burning cars, pools of blood and bodies of the dead and injured. Notebooks and stationery fluttered in the air before scattering to the ground.
The incident was the latest to underscore the difficulty faced by U.S. and Iraqi forces as they try to stem sectarian violence here, and it raised questions about how long certain factions, such as Shiite Muslim militias, would continue to comply with the new security plan before taking revenge.
Nine American soldiers were killed Monday, the military announced today.
In Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, six American soldiers were killed by an explosion near their vehicle, the military said. It said three other soldiers were wounded in the attack on a Task Force Lightning patrol conducting combat operations.
In Diyala province, northeast of the capital, three more soldiers from the same task force were killed in a similar attack, a separate announcement said.
The nine deaths would bring the number of American military personnel killed in the Iraq theater since the conflict began in 2003 to 3,184, according to a count by icasualties.org.
Around the capital Monday, police found the bodies of 25 men who had been shot to death, a number higher than in recent days and approaching the pre-crackdown average.
Since the operation was launched Feb. 13, it has seen some success in reducing such death squad killings, which are believed to be the work of Shiite militias.
Bombings at sites where people congregate, seen by the U.S. as largely the work of Sunni Arab insurgents, continue to occur virtually every day, and so far the bolstered forces in Baghdad have been largely powerless to stop them.
"The notion of deterring attacks depends on a rational adversary who does not want to die," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "If you are facing a spiritually motivated zealot who associates martyrdom with success, deterrence will not work."
Iraqi security officials and policymakers acknowledge that they face a difficult task trying to head off attacks on civilians in crowded areas, but they say the job can be done with aggressive intelligence work targeting insurgents and through technology that detects car and belt bombs, as well as through political negotiations.
"Of course, stopping the car bombs is more difficult than stopping the assassinations," said Ammar Tuma, a lawmaker with the largely Shiite Al Fadila al Islamiya party who sits on the Iraqi parliament's security committee. Still, he said, "I'm optimistic of the capability of the plan to reduce these terrorist attacks."
In recent days, U.S.-led military forces have launched long-delayed efforts to establish regular security patrols in Sadr City, a Shiite slum of Baghdad that is home to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr and the Al Mahdi militia that is loyal to him. The operation has been one of the most delicate undertakings of the new security plan because of the volatility of Sadr's followers, who have been relatively safe under the watchful eyes of the Al Mahdi. U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted operations in the district again Monday without incident.
Downtown Baghdad was another story.
Iraqis have long held a reputation as the Middle East's bibliophiles; as an Arabic saying goes, "Egypt writes, Beirut prints and Baghdad reads." Occupying several streets of a cultural district around what had been an Ottoman Empire garrison, the Mutanabi book mart once offered virtually everything a reader could want.
But since the fall of Saddam Hussein four years ago, visitors to the mart have found it dominated by religious texts, particularly those of the majority Shiites.
"Destruction was everywhere," said Haydar Jassim, a 22-year-old who works at a nearby shoe store.
"It was rush hour at that time, and many people were preparing themselves to do their noon prayers."
Namir Abdul-Kadhum, 42, who sells stationery from a roadside kiosk, was hit in the head and eye by shrapnel and suffered a burned hand when the bomb exploded about 20 yards away. He lost consciousness and awoke at Kindi Hospital.
"As I was at my stand, I felt and heard a powerful blast," he said. "I was pushed and thrown away."
The book mart bombing was not the only audacious attack Monday.
At least six Shiite pilgrims marking the anniversary of a 7th century imam's death were killed in separate attacks, including a drive-by shooting, a suicide bombing and a roadside explosion.
"I saw the flags that the pilgrims were carrying thrown on the ground, and blood was everywhere," said Wissam Khadhum, a technician at a nearby oil refinery who saw one of the attacks, an ambush on pilgrims as they crossed Baghdad's Dora Bridge.
"I saw two men lying dead on the ground by the fire of the gunmen from the orchard areas, others injured, and some were safe," he said, adding that it appeared to be a well-coordinated attack timed for when the pilgrims had reached the center of the bridge.
Times staff writers Saif Hameed, Zeena Kareem and Suhail Ahmad and special correspondents contributed to this report.
March 6, 2007
Pg. 1
A suicide attacker kills 30 at the longtime haunt of the Iraqi cultured set.
By Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD — For decades, the Mutanabi Street book mart was a feeding ground for Iraq's intellectuals, serving up a rich menu of history and philosophy texts, novels and biographies, and atlases and manuscripts to the Middle East's most voracious readers.
On Monday, it proved yet another rich target for a suicide bomber, who left 30 dead and 60 wounded in one more grisly attack that evaded Baghdad's security crackdown.
The bomber detonated a sedan packed with explosives while sitting in a traffic jam in the area, shattering what had been a crystalline spring day.
The explosion left shoppers and sellers screaming and crying amid burning cars, pools of blood and bodies of the dead and injured. Notebooks and stationery fluttered in the air before scattering to the ground.
The incident was the latest to underscore the difficulty faced by U.S. and Iraqi forces as they try to stem sectarian violence here, and it raised questions about how long certain factions, such as Shiite Muslim militias, would continue to comply with the new security plan before taking revenge.
Nine American soldiers were killed Monday, the military announced today.
In Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, six American soldiers were killed by an explosion near their vehicle, the military said. It said three other soldiers were wounded in the attack on a Task Force Lightning patrol conducting combat operations.
In Diyala province, northeast of the capital, three more soldiers from the same task force were killed in a similar attack, a separate announcement said.
The nine deaths would bring the number of American military personnel killed in the Iraq theater since the conflict began in 2003 to 3,184, according to a count by icasualties.org.
Around the capital Monday, police found the bodies of 25 men who had been shot to death, a number higher than in recent days and approaching the pre-crackdown average.
Since the operation was launched Feb. 13, it has seen some success in reducing such death squad killings, which are believed to be the work of Shiite militias.
Bombings at sites where people congregate, seen by the U.S. as largely the work of Sunni Arab insurgents, continue to occur virtually every day, and so far the bolstered forces in Baghdad have been largely powerless to stop them.
"The notion of deterring attacks depends on a rational adversary who does not want to die," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "If you are facing a spiritually motivated zealot who associates martyrdom with success, deterrence will not work."
Iraqi security officials and policymakers acknowledge that they face a difficult task trying to head off attacks on civilians in crowded areas, but they say the job can be done with aggressive intelligence work targeting insurgents and through technology that detects car and belt bombs, as well as through political negotiations.
"Of course, stopping the car bombs is more difficult than stopping the assassinations," said Ammar Tuma, a lawmaker with the largely Shiite Al Fadila al Islamiya party who sits on the Iraqi parliament's security committee. Still, he said, "I'm optimistic of the capability of the plan to reduce these terrorist attacks."
In recent days, U.S.-led military forces have launched long-delayed efforts to establish regular security patrols in Sadr City, a Shiite slum of Baghdad that is home to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr and the Al Mahdi militia that is loyal to him. The operation has been one of the most delicate undertakings of the new security plan because of the volatility of Sadr's followers, who have been relatively safe under the watchful eyes of the Al Mahdi. U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted operations in the district again Monday without incident.
Downtown Baghdad was another story.
Iraqis have long held a reputation as the Middle East's bibliophiles; as an Arabic saying goes, "Egypt writes, Beirut prints and Baghdad reads." Occupying several streets of a cultural district around what had been an Ottoman Empire garrison, the Mutanabi book mart once offered virtually everything a reader could want.
But since the fall of Saddam Hussein four years ago, visitors to the mart have found it dominated by religious texts, particularly those of the majority Shiites.
"Destruction was everywhere," said Haydar Jassim, a 22-year-old who works at a nearby shoe store.
"It was rush hour at that time, and many people were preparing themselves to do their noon prayers."
Namir Abdul-Kadhum, 42, who sells stationery from a roadside kiosk, was hit in the head and eye by shrapnel and suffered a burned hand when the bomb exploded about 20 yards away. He lost consciousness and awoke at Kindi Hospital.
"As I was at my stand, I felt and heard a powerful blast," he said. "I was pushed and thrown away."
The book mart bombing was not the only audacious attack Monday.
At least six Shiite pilgrims marking the anniversary of a 7th century imam's death were killed in separate attacks, including a drive-by shooting, a suicide bombing and a roadside explosion.
"I saw the flags that the pilgrims were carrying thrown on the ground, and blood was everywhere," said Wissam Khadhum, a technician at a nearby oil refinery who saw one of the attacks, an ambush on pilgrims as they crossed Baghdad's Dora Bridge.
"I saw two men lying dead on the ground by the fire of the gunmen from the orchard areas, others injured, and some were safe," he said, adding that it appeared to be a well-coordinated attack timed for when the pilgrims had reached the center of the bridge.
Times staff writers Saif Hameed, Zeena Kareem and Suhail Ahmad and special correspondents contributed to this report.