Female suicide Bombers kill 57, wound 300 in Iraq
By John Amato Sunday Jul 27, 2008 5:00pmThe Iraq security forces couldn't stop these attacks.
Female suicide bombers struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300, police said.
Three women detonated their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102, Iraqi officials said.
Authorities clamped a 3 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew on the city, which is home to Kurds, Turkomen, Arabs and smaller groups.
The bombings - among the deadliest this year - were a devastating blow to the Iraqi public's growing confidence in recent security gains that have seen violence in Iraq drop to its lowest levels in more than four years...read on
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That's sad. :(
That's funny...the Associated Propaganda article yesterday said this wasn't happening anymore...we were winning the previously "lost" war...
omg...who are these people that are doing this? They arent attacking Americans..Why are they attacking there own?
Im sorry to sound like this but what point is it to attack your own people?
The media is either not mentioning that death
& injury is stinking up the air in the middle east.
Must be a election year. :-(
We should keep in mind that there are only 25 million or so in Iraq now. So, 57 deaths would be the equivalent of 600 people being killed in the US today by terrorists. If 600 Americans died today at the hands of terrorists, would we describe the situation as improving? as good? as "we are winning"?
@ Pete #3
They don't consider themselves the same people. The attacks were by Sunnis and they were against Shias and Kurds.
The Nations Rrobert Dreyfuss's take on the situation in Iraq
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/339676/iraq_poised_to_explode
Worth the Read
Juan Cole on the bombings
http://www.juancole.com/
ALERT Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake asking people to respond to this horrendous crime
http://firedoglake.com/2008/07/28/rape-victims-death-ruled-suicide-by-ar...
After two years of requesting documents, one set of papers provided by the Army included a xerox copy of a CD. Wondering why the xerox copy was in the documents, Dr. Johnson requested the CD itself. With help from his local Congressional representative, the US Army finally complied. When Dr. Johnson viewed the CD, he was shocked to see photographs taken by Army investigators of his daughter’s body as it lay where her body had been found, as well as other photographs of her disrobed body taken during the investigation.
The photographs revealed that Lavena, a small woman, barely 5 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, had been struck in the face with a blunt instrument, perhaps a weapon stock. Her nose was broken and her teeth knocked backwards. One elbow was distended. The back of her clothes had debris on them indicating she had been dragged from one location to another. The photographs of her disrobed body showed bruises, scratch marks and teeth imprints on the upper part of her body. The right side of her back as well as her right hand had been burned apparently from a flammable liquid poured on her and then lighted. The photographs of her genital area revealed massive bruising and lacerations. A corrosive liquid had been poured into her genital area, probably to destroy DNA evidence of sexual assault.
Despite the bruises, scratches, teeth imprints and burns on her body, Lavena was found completely dressed in the burning tent. There was a blood trail from outside a contractor’s tent to inside the tent. She apparently had been dressed after the attack and her attacker placed her body into the tent and set it on fire.
Why isn't MSM hammering Mccain for how successful the surge is? If it was so successful, why are so many dying? These makes me feel sad for our nation. I feel we have blood on our hands. Because in the beginning, I was for it. God, I was such a tool.
I'm sure we will soon hear from FOX about how this is all Obama's fault.
I don't know why this is happening but it is so damned sad.
Another corner turned!
I've never had anyone throw candy and flowers at me but I don't image they would explode on impact.
It's amazing what people are willing to do when they think their life is in the shitter. Funny though how you don't hear about Haitians blowing themselves up? Maybe because they realize their enemy is their poverty and not the Shia or Kurds.
But this is proof that the surge is working!! It's okay if it's only brown people who are dying.
McSame knows how to win wars! Vote McSame= 3rd Bush Term & 100 years' more Mideast Wars. By the time we steal their oil it'll cost 10 times what it's worth now, well worth the blood of our brave Troops.
BennyP @ 9:
FTFY. Fox wouldn't call him Obama without mentioning his middle name.
Either that or this:
FTFY again.
Yeah McSame all ready served in a brutally immoral war in Vietnam he knows he what immoral wars are all about
Yes, "The Surge" is working, and we are winning "The War on Terrorism", and 500 billion$ a year is being stolen by millionaires using off shore accounts.
Life is good in Fascist Fat White Homophobic Religious America!!!!
A Tribute Vid to the Fallen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMACzBomDK4
My God, this week is getting off to an ugly start.
Uncle!
57 more deaths for Vincent Bugliosi to charge Bush with murder for. http://youtube.com/watch?v=3xP79ReW8bk
Kathleen @ 15:
Yes, and back then people chanted "support the troops" just like they do now. Why should anyone want to support to kill in an immoral war?
Furthermore, what is a "moral war" ????
Required @ 2:
The Associated Press is full of shit rethuglican talking points.
This story is not true.
Things are much better in Iraq.
Violence is way down.
The "surge" has been at least partially responsible.
McCain and McObama both say so.
Pete @ 3:
"Iraq" is a made up country, less than 1 century old. It was made following the old UK Empire method of divide and conquer. It is made of 3 different factions which hate each other's guts.
There is a reason why Saddam was how he was...
It would not surprise me if we didn't fund the selection, training and equipping of the suicide bomber.
The Defense Contractor Feed Trough must be kept full. Halliburton/KBR/Blackwater would have no problem covertly funding this, which means we are funding it.
Chaos must be maintained!!
Underground Pirate @ 20:
Wars by definition can't be moral. They can be just/unjust or even justified, but they can never be moral.
The doublespeak which is prevalent among the American media is mind blowing to say the least.
The saddest example is the fact that every news organization in the US of A uses the term "insurgents" to label the Iraqi "resistance."
These kinds of terrible events will continue as long as the modern notion of "Iraq" is forced to persist.
What the powers that be need to realize is that it is the people of "Iraq" that will decide its fate, and those people apparently don't enjoy the modern notion of "Iraq".
I think it's time that we start considering splitting Iraq up, or at the very least giving these groups (sunni, shia, kurds) complete control over their own regions.
This kind of talk may be inconvenient to the west, but I don't think what's convenient to us should be the primary concern here.
Nothing that is happening in Iraq is in "our" control.
We stand out like Imperial Storm Troopers.
The inswurgents attack, or they don't attack, to make or prove points, the main ones usually being that "You, Yanqi Jo! You are not in charge!...Me! Moh, I am in charge. His is MY crib, mofo." People die when we forget that lesson.
every time mccain either visits iraq or talks about how great things are going this shit happens. i would not be surprised that the terroists know that mccain on larry king tonite and planned the timing of the attack accordingly, so he will have to address it.
Pete @ 3:
As you know its deeply complex over there. Just ask W and Dick. Its not "winnable". That's why both candidates plans to send more troops to Afghanistan is astonishing. If 911 hadn't gone down the Taliban would still be in Kabul. But more to the point concerning who gets attacked, its important to remember when Obama and Bush and McCain say "we must defeat Terrorism." They really mean stopping "acts of terror" against us.
The Virginia Tech murders got several weeks of coverage while the slaughter hundreds of thousands of "foreigners" gets bupkis.
Its tribal and universal: When Americans die...Americans pay attention.
Tyler Durden @ 25:
I was sick when the 'support the troops" mantra took over. While I understand young men and women join the military under false pretenses all of the time. I have a real problem with all of the 'support the troops" hoopla.
Eric in Ottawa @ 26:
Enabling the will of the Iraqi people would generate 3 separate nations: Kurds, Sunni and Shia would got their merry separate ways.
Problem: the Shia would align with Iran. The Kurds would force Turkey to give up their Kurdistan possesions, and the Sunni would be massively pissed about their lost of hegemony.
The killings would stop, alas a stable region would mean that the western oil interests would be shit out of luck.
And thus, order and peace were never intended, nor expected. Sure, the US of A will pay lip service. And it helps this country to deflect the blame on the clusterfuck and claim is these crazy Iraqis killing their own. Alas, peace and stability was never the goal... the opposite in fact.
Why do I get the feeling these women did make that decision themselves? Some people really make me sick.
Mark my words. Should these horrific attacks escalate in the coming weeks and months, McCain will have it believed it's a last gasp attempt of Al Quaida to discredit "the surge", and aid in the election of Barack Obama.
The surge worked! The right-wing media in print, radio, and television told me so!
The only "Surge" that has worked is a surge in propaganda being perpetrated against the American public..
Here's the article that appeared in my local paper this morning, I assume that it did so in many towns and cities across the country:
US now winning Iraq war that once seemed lost
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C07%5C27%5Cstory_27-...
The timing of this article is extremely interesting coming on the heels of Obama's tour. It also was presented as a straight news article, not an op ed. I suspect that a major propaganda campaign is underway intended to swing the elections in favor of the Republicans.
Here's a few details that heighten my suspicion that the AP is the new American Pravda:
AP's Ron Fournier To Karl Rove: "Keep Up The Fight"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/14/aps-ron-fournier-to-karl_n_1126...
The AP has a Ron Fournier problem
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200807220006
New AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier Called Obama “Arrogant” And Characterized Him As Uppity
http://www.oliverwillis.com/index.php/2008/05/02/new-ap-washington-burea...
Mattastic @ 32:
Huh?
I'm not sure, but I think this comment disturbs me in many ways.
No surprise here. Killings may have been on the decline, but it was only temporary. That region is an angry beehive the US is too stupid to leave alone. That's right America, keep poking it with a stick and see what happens.
Kathleen @ 30:
In the spring of 1964, I 'pre-enlisted' in the USAF, for induction in Sept. 64. That summer I life-guarded at LaFonda hotel's little pool, but I worked a spotlight at the Opera, and thus was expected at/for ALL the parties. In August, US intelligence lied about an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin, and the shit hit the fan. What had been a leisurely life-style option in May was, in September, suddenly looking like a far more serious enterprise than I, for one, had really anticipated.
My point? oh...well, modern warfare was created--fuuking eons ago, really, right at the dawn of history--basically, as a tool for reducing the numbers of redundant, competing males when culture, following what would later be called Malthusianism, created ever and more mouthes to be fed by the captive stock of agriculture. Malthus was not an evil genius; he merely followed out the reductio ad absurdem, and recorded his findings.
Some of us forget, we went into Iraq based on LIES from the LIAR-IN-CHIEF! Once we went into Iraq, THERE WAS NO PLAN FOR THE OCCUPATION! Nobody in the administration knew (or wanted to believe) the removal of Saddam wouldn't cause ethnic tensions leading to "Civil War" (what makes war 'civil' anyway?). Saddam may have been a BAAAD man but since there were no WMD and no eminent threat to U.S. soil or interests, iraqi forces contained with NO-Fly zones AND the mission in Afghanistan still hadn't been successful, still isn't successful since we haven't caught Osama bin Laden which was the stated mission and the missions keep changing because why? KBR not rich enough?
Violence in Iraq, our fault? You decide!
So...is the surge working?
I think we'll find that this is simply an example the surge is working because the streets are safe for women to go back to work as suicide bombers.
That and you have to admit it's pretty progressive for a Muslim country to allow a woman to have a job.
if they can't handle cartoons, how will they be able to handle democracy?
/we broke it
//we bought it
Yohance @ 40:
Fuukin A! man...like a champ
Are there any kind of civil liberties/privacy protections in place in Iraq, like our recently lost 4th Amendment? No? Then how are these attacks possible?? If they say we are 'safer' without these protections, and the Iraqis never had these rights in the first place, why isn't the snooping/indefinite detention/torture in Iraq keeping Iraq safe? And why does the American public blindly accept that it will keep US safe?
Mike @ 41:
was the "/snark" spozed to be implicit, there, Mike? jus' askin...
woody, tokin librul @ 45:
Pretty sure it's obvious, but with the wacky republicans trolling here, I suppose it could be serious... lol
This happened AFTER Obama visited. It's obvious he set it up to make the RePubs look stupid. We report, you decide.
Tyler Durden @ 31:
Exactly!
the msm believes the surge is working, because every time mccain surges his cock in their asses, they have a major orgasm.
Ratface @ 4:
holly molely batman time to send up the bat simbol , right you are robin !start up the batmobile! hey ratface pusan still stinks! i smelled in the bathroom this morning!
Anyone recall when 'liberators' were greeted with IED's and when success came strapped to suicide bombers ?????????
it would be very interesting to see forensic photographs of the aftermath of this bomb attack.
how do investigators determine the identity and gender of the bombers? if bombs had been planted, and detonated remotely, how would anyone know?
swampfox @ 50:
i take it you caught "dark knight", ty?
swampfox @ 50:
Even overlooking the preschool-level spelling/grammar mistakes, I still can't make heads or tails of what the fuck you are trying to say here.
yesyesyes @ 47:
This is one reason why Obama's new posture of "listening to the commanders" in deciding when to withdraw our troops is misguided.
The reason to get out of Iraq is that it is a totally corrupt, morally bankrupt venture.
The only way that violence will end is when our troops leave.
The Iraqis do not want an occupying force. Would we?
So, when Obama shifts to the right and abandons his pledge to withdraw troops - and makes it conditional - he is abandoning us.
If he starts eating rightwing rhetorical bullshit, he will grow to like the taste.
the msm is abdicating its 4-th estate role again
isn't this many female bombers at once unprecedented?
if i recall, at the first appearance of female suicide bombers a few weeks ago, the hardly-ever-right wing insisted that it was proof that the surge was working, because the insurgents are now so desparate that they are sending out women to do a man's job, or some such folderol like that.
i also noticed that today's headlines were about obama not visiting wounded troops as opposed to how the bombings disprove the surge feasibility. where's your surge now, katie couric? nyah [/edward g. robinson in 10 commandments]
Someone in our holy media community might want to ask why women are so desparate that they would do this. Our press is so stupid.
If they were male, would the headline have been, "Male suicide bombers..."? I doubt it. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen suicide bombers referred to as "male suicide bombers". What gives?
Studies of female suicide bombers in Iraq say that the majority of them have had a family member either killed or arrested by Iraqi or U.S. forces and they carry out their attacks for revenge and family honor. The Shiite pilgrimages have been common targets each year by Sunni insurgents. The bombing in Kirkuk is much more important because afterwards the Kurdish crowd attacked a Turkoman political party and an Arab politician from the provincial council. That plus a Kurdish parliamentarian saying that this whole thing was the fault of parties in parliament for passing the provincial election law, are just the kind of divisions the bombers probably wanted. For more on female bombers in Iraq see: http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2008/07/rise-of-female-suicide-bombers... There are also two pieces on today's events.
I think they used female because they are less likely to get searched and can hide more ordinance in their traditional outfits. It is not desperation. it is tactical. See "Battle of Algiers", they commonly used women to plant bombs, using French chauvinism against them.
The only "surge" that's working is the surge of air from the bomb blasts.
The only way to a stable Iraq is a purge of US occupation forces.
Many bigots are either ignorant or just too dumb to realize that even the glorious United States fought a civil war in the not too distant past. Americans slaughtered each other, but you ignoramuses can't seem to do any self reflection.
Mike @ 41:
Contrary to your bigoted chauvinistic stereotypes, Muslim women are “allowed” to work in many M.E. countries, but don’t let facts get in the way of your drivel.
oZer @ 42:
Who's "THEY"?
There are about 1.5 BILLION Muslims in the world spread across much of Asia, Africa, Europe and N. America with each region, country and often city practicing a different form of Islam according to their own traditions and interpretations of the religion.
Also, when you say, "handle" what does that mean? Can Israel for example "handle" photoshopped posters of its leaders in Nazi uniform because of what they're doing to the Palestinians?
OR, does Israel go out of its way to label the culprits "Anti-Semitic" and puts extreme diplomatic pressure on that country to silence and squelch such "anti-Semitism"? So much was Israel's pressure brought to bear that in many European countries Holocaust denial is a crime.
Now, in case you haven't been paying attention, it's the second one.
In fact, Shimon Perez was visiting Egypt a few years ago and he made sure to bring up a recent caricature to Mubarak's attention. Mubarak in turn, closed the newspaper down.
Come to think of it, we don't have to go that far to find cases of people unable to "handle" cartoons, signs or posters, case in point: "Impeach" signs over which many "libruls" have been arrested for by the police and attacked by a bunch of knuckle draggers.
Clean up your own sh*$% before you go making derogatory remarks about others.
I don't believe this story. It's just not credible to me, considering the time frame (three months before US election), and particularly because a former CIA agent appeared on CNN International just this morning and said that the Car Bomb is the most dangerous weapon and that he was taught by the CIA how to make them.
63 Churn. Excellent comments. I agree totally.
can u really blame these suicide bombers?
an occupying force
1 million civilians killed
infrastructure decimated
scheduled outings of electricity, no reliable running water, and other basics
foreign plans/activity to build permanent bases, mega-embassies, and support infrastructure for an unending occupation - ahem, security presence.
tens of thousands, maybe more like hundreds, exposed to depleted uranium munitions debris
foreign plans to transfer their wealth - oil, to multinational coffers...
and the list can go on....
Would we do anything less if the roles were reversed...
Unfortunately, I think we just might do less.
WE DEMAND that you librul's admit the surge was a success!
- MSM a.k.a. Republican Party
churn @ 63:
Welcome to the US education system and the ignorance that it churns out on a daily basis ...... people know nothing about themselves or their past, though they can tell you what Paris Hilton is upto and how much the new iPhone costs.
Welcome to your end :)
enough @ 58:
Because the US came in and destroyed their country and took the boiler plate of the lid of things that was Saddam, and disbanded the Iraqi army ......... just so you lot could drive your hummers.
Hope you're proud.
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