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| Iraq-Jordan | ||
| Boomers aiming at Iraqi election process | ||
| 2004-02-12 | ||
Back-to-back suicide bombings on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed more than 100 people came as a United Nations delegation was examining whether early elections could be held in Iraq. The message, Iraqi politicians and others here said Wednesday, is unmistakable. "These terrorists want to inflame the area to get the U.N. to give up on the idea of elections," said Wael Abdul Latif, a judge from Basra and a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. "A few weeks ago, things were quiet. But as soon as the delegation arrived, the violence exploded."
On Tuesday, the victims were aspiring policemen, blown apart while waiting in line outside a police station south of Baghdad. Wednesday it was dozens of young men shivering in the rain in front of an army recruitment center in central Baghdad. "I want to wear our uniform," said Raid Abdul Zahara, who was cut on the head by shrapnel and narrowly escaped death. Asked if he was scared to take such a job now, he shook his bandaged head. "Never," he said. So far more than 300 policemen have been killed, along with scores of other security troops. Jassim Tahir, a traffic police supervisor, acknowledged his job was like "a dance with death." "But I can’t quit," Mr. Tahir said. "Evil can’t win, can it?" The men killed Wednesday were standing outside the army recruiting station just after 7:30 a.m. when, police officials said, an explosives-packed Chevrolet Celebrity driven by a masked man careered into the crowd. Though the base is fortified with hundreds of sand-filled barriers, most of the recruits were outside the protected zone. At least 47 people were killed and 50 wounded, said an Iraqi police official, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, spokesman for the coalition forces, said "there will be a spike in violence" as the transfer of power gets closer. "We’ve prepared for it," he said. "We’ve planned for it." General Kimmitt and other American officials said the suicide attacks were part of "the blueprint for terror" that is laid out in an intercepted letter from a suspected associate of Al Qaeda. The full text of the letter, which states that "the enemies are the Americans, the police and the army," was released Wednesday. General Kimmitt said it was too early to tell who was behind Wednesday’s attack but that "Al Qaeda’s fingerprints are all over the Iskandariya bombing." But General Ibrahim told The Associated Press that the engine number of the pickup used in Tuesday’s Iskandariya bombing indicated that it once belonged to an intelligence officer for Saddam Hussein.
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 "If the terrorists are trying to win converts, this will only do the opposite." Actually the terrorists have already won almost the entire Democratic Party as converts. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-2-12 8:56:07 AM |
| #2 The United Nations team, which arrived over the weekend, has disclosed little about which way it is leaning: to push for elections, or to stick to the American plan My money is on with the UN lining up right behind Sistani.... |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-2-12 8:09:44 AM |
| #1 Jassim Tahir, a traffic police supervisor, acknowledged his job was like "a dance with death." "But I can’t quit," Mr. Tahir said. "Evil can’t win, can it?" Yes, unfortunately it can. If we and the Iraqis give in because of a few thugs with C-4, it can win. There is a group in the US that wants exactly this result. They don't care about the ordinary Iraqi in the least. They've only got one agenda: defeat Bush no matter WHAT the cost to a terribly oppressed people. |
| Posted by: RMcLeod 2004-2-12 3:47:05 AM |