Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: Paul Schemm
Date: 28 September 2006
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb killed two Iraqi soldiers on Thursday in
Baghdad as a US intelligence official revealed that militias are
re-infiltrating previously cleared neighborhoods with the assistance of
police.
A minibus packed with explosives drove into an army post in the northeast
largely Shiite Shaab neighborhood where US forces have recently conducted a
comprehensive house-searching operation.
Baghdad neighborhoods that have been searched as part of the joint US-Iraqi
attempt to stabilize the strife-ridden capital are showing renewed violence
and assassinations by armed gangs, reported a coalition intelligence
official.
"The pattern we have tended to see is that, as we've cleared areas, the
numbers of murders and executions have decreased in most sectors," he told
reporters, admitting that in some places the violence has returned.
"We would ascribe that to probably some measure of some elements in MOI
(Ministry of Interior) facilitating the re-entry of folks into the secure
area," said the intelligence official referring to militia death squads.
The number two US military commander in Iraq emphasized Wednesday that the
government had to deal with the militias in the country, which have close
ties with some of the parties in the coalition government.
"We have to fix this militia issue. We can't have armed militias competing
with Iraqi security forces, but I also have to trust the prime minister to
decide when it is that we do that," said Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli.
The Shaab bombing, which also wounded 11 soldiers and a civilian, is part of
what coalition spokesman Major General Caldwell described Wednesday as a
spike in suicide attacks, which are now at their highest level ever in Iraq.
The first week of Ramadan has also seen a rise in the night time killings
generally attributed to Shiite death squads that leave corpses strewn across
the city.
Police reported finding another 15 corpses on Thursday morning, following
the discovery of several dozen the day before. West Baghdad's Yarmuk
hospital reported receiving another four bodies.
"This has been a tough week," Caldwell told reporters. "We have seen an
increase of attacks as anticipated. The terrorists and other groups are
punching back to discredit the government of Iraq."
Despite the role of US forces in attempting to stabilize the country,
however, recent polls conducted in Iraq have a majority of the population
calling for the swift withdrawal of coalition troops.
A poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the
University of Maryland had 78 percent of respondents saying that they
thought the US presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it is
preventing.
Support for attacks on US troops has also increased considerably: 61 percent
approve of the attacks, up from 47 percent in January, according to the
poll.
A separate internal US State Department poll quoted by the Washington Post
had similar results: nearly three-quarters of Baghdadis would feel safer if
US and foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent supporting an immediate
pullout.
Iraq's leadership, however, has consistently stated that coalition forces
are in the country with their permission and are necessary for stability.
A number of other bombs went off in Baghdad on Thursday producing only
injuries except for a pair of blasts in central Baghdad, one timed to off
after the other to ensure maximum casualties.
Five people, including two police, were killed and 15 injured, according to
Ibn al-Nafis hospital, when a car bomb exploded, followed by a second
makeshift device, as people gathered.
Northeast of Baghdad, in the restive Diyala province, a police officer was
killed and his brother wounded when gunmen riddled their car with bullets in
Muqdadiyah.
In the provincial seat of Baquba itself, a fruit seller and a day laborer
were shot dead in separate incidents.
Byline: Paul Schemm
Date: 28 September 2006
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb killed two Iraqi soldiers on Thursday in
Baghdad as a US intelligence official revealed that militias are
re-infiltrating previously cleared neighborhoods with the assistance of
police.
A minibus packed with explosives drove into an army post in the northeast
largely Shiite Shaab neighborhood where US forces have recently conducted a
comprehensive house-searching operation.
Baghdad neighborhoods that have been searched as part of the joint US-Iraqi
attempt to stabilize the strife-ridden capital are showing renewed violence
and assassinations by armed gangs, reported a coalition intelligence
official.
"The pattern we have tended to see is that, as we've cleared areas, the
numbers of murders and executions have decreased in most sectors," he told
reporters, admitting that in some places the violence has returned.
"We would ascribe that to probably some measure of some elements in MOI
(Ministry of Interior) facilitating the re-entry of folks into the secure
area," said the intelligence official referring to militia death squads.
The number two US military commander in Iraq emphasized Wednesday that the
government had to deal with the militias in the country, which have close
ties with some of the parties in the coalition government.
"We have to fix this militia issue. We can't have armed militias competing
with Iraqi security forces, but I also have to trust the prime minister to
decide when it is that we do that," said Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli.
The Shaab bombing, which also wounded 11 soldiers and a civilian, is part of
what coalition spokesman Major General Caldwell described Wednesday as a
spike in suicide attacks, which are now at their highest level ever in Iraq.
The first week of Ramadan has also seen a rise in the night time killings
generally attributed to Shiite death squads that leave corpses strewn across
the city.
Police reported finding another 15 corpses on Thursday morning, following
the discovery of several dozen the day before. West Baghdad's Yarmuk
hospital reported receiving another four bodies.
"This has been a tough week," Caldwell told reporters. "We have seen an
increase of attacks as anticipated. The terrorists and other groups are
punching back to discredit the government of Iraq."
Despite the role of US forces in attempting to stabilize the country,
however, recent polls conducted in Iraq have a majority of the population
calling for the swift withdrawal of coalition troops.
A poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the
University of Maryland had 78 percent of respondents saying that they
thought the US presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it is
preventing.
Support for attacks on US troops has also increased considerably: 61 percent
approve of the attacks, up from 47 percent in January, according to the
poll.
A separate internal US State Department poll quoted by the Washington Post
had similar results: nearly three-quarters of Baghdadis would feel safer if
US and foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent supporting an immediate
pullout.
Iraq's leadership, however, has consistently stated that coalition forces
are in the country with their permission and are necessary for stability.
A number of other bombs went off in Baghdad on Thursday producing only
injuries except for a pair of blasts in central Baghdad, one timed to off
after the other to ensure maximum casualties.
Five people, including two police, were killed and 15 injured, according to
Ibn al-Nafis hospital, when a car bomb exploded, followed by a second
makeshift device, as people gathered.
Northeast of Baghdad, in the restive Diyala province, a police officer was
killed and his brother wounded when gunmen riddled their car with bullets in
Muqdadiyah.
In the provincial seat of Baquba itself, a fruit seller and a day laborer
were shot dead in separate incidents.