Bombs targeting Shi'ites kill scores in Iraq

[FriendlyFire]

Bombs targeting Shi'ites kill scores in Iraq

Bombs targeting Shi'ites kill scores in Iraq
June 14, 2012 - 8:05AM

A co-ordinated wave of car bombs has struck Shi'ite pilgrims in Baghdad and several other cities, killing at least 70 people and wounding more than 200 in one of the deadliest days in Iraq since US troops withdrew from the country.

The bloodshed comes against a backdrop of political divisions that have raised tensions and threatened to provoke a new round of the violence that once pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents who frequently target Shi'ites in Iraq.
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Wednesday's blasts were the third this week targeting the annual pilgrimage that sees hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites converge on a golden-domed shrine in Baghdad's northern neighbourhood of Kazimiyah to commemorate the eighth century death of a revered Shi'ite saint, Imam Moussa al-Kadhim. The commemoration culminates on Saturday.

Puddles of blood and shards of metal clogged a drainage ditch at the site of one of the bombings in the city of Hillah, where hours before pilgrims had been marching. Soldiers and dazed onlookers wandered near the charred remains of the car that had exploded and ripped gaping holes in nearby shops.

Most of the 16 separate explosions that rocked the country targeted Shi'ite pilgrims in five cities, but two hit offices of political parties linked to Iraq's Kurdish minority in the tense north.

Authorities had tightened security ahead of the pilgrimage, including a blockade of the mainly Sunni area of Azamiyah, which is near the twin-domed Shi'ite shrine.

The level of violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq since peaking in 2006-2007 as the country faced a Sunni-led insurgency and retaliatory sectarian fighting that broke out after the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. But Iraqis still face near-daily attacks and Shi'ite pilgrimages are often targeted.

Political divisions also have only deepened, paralysing the country since the Americans withdrew all combat troops in mid-December.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been accused of trying to monopolise power, and tensions spiked after Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi - the highest-ranking Sunni in Iraq's leadership - was charged with running death squads.

The government began his trial in absentia since Hashemi was out of the country, drawing allegations the charges were part of a vendetta by the Shi'ite-led government.

The political stagnation has set back hopes for stability in Iraq and stalled efforts to rebuild the country after eight years of US occupation.

Baghdad military command spokesman Colonel Dhia al-Wakeel said the attacks were intended to reignite all-out sectarian bloodshed, "but Iraqis are fully aware of the terrorism agenda and will not slip into a sectarian conflict".

http://www.smh.com.au/world/bombs-targeting-shiites-kill-scores-in-iraq-20120614-20b7i.html

Nothing to see, move along.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Humans are cruel.

Inb4 political points.

 

[Skwink]

Good thing we finally got out of that mess.

 

[kramerfan86]

I dont know why there was such strong determination to keep that as one country.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

I dont know why there was such strong determination to keep that as one country.

Geography's already not our strong suit.

 

[classical_hero]

Nothing to see, move along.

So 70 people dying and 200 injured is nothing?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Perhaps people will now start to understand why most Iraqis think they had it far better under Saddam Hussein than they do now. That the incessant meddling in the foreign affairs of countries we really know little or nothing about is typically a very bad idea.

 

[schlaufuchs]

So 70 people dying and 200 injured is nothing?

lol, are you that incapable of reading sarcasm?

Ok, let's go back to Logic 101 here. If he thought it was nothing, why would he go through the trouble to start the thread?

 

[Tahuti]

If he thought it was nothing, why would he go through the trouble to start the thread?

Ehh... because it interests him, despite "acknowledging" it doesn't matter that much? Few if any people outside CFC give a damn about what we post here, yet we do it, because like to do it.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Perhaps the true purpose of the thread is to argue about what the true purpose was.

I think the statement was clearly sarcasm.

 

[del62]

Perhaps people will now start to understand why most Iraqis think they had it far better under Saddam Hussein than they do now. That the incessant meddling in the foreign affairs of countries we really know little or nothing about is typically a very bad idea.

Yeah Saddam never killed any Shia during his time in charge of Iraq

 

[Formaldehyde]

Hussein killed numerous people, including Shi'a. But terrorists weren't setting off car bombs killing and injuring hundreds of innocent people on a regular basis either. Now were they?

It is easy to forget that under Hussein that Iraq was frequently cited as a model of a successful secular Islamic country. Now it has largely become a Shi'a-controlled country, where the Sunni are regularly denied their rights and governmental representation and even persecuted.

 

[NedimNapoleon]

Yah Saddam was pretty systematic, he mostly killed enemies of the state and his own enemies. This is much worse, Im surprised Iraq doesn't just fall apart.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Iraq is so politically divided, if you went there you'd think it was the US.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Except the Protestants and Catholics aren't openly killing each other, and the sovereign government wasn't recently deposed while the country was invaded and occupied by foreign troops.

 

[FriendlyFire]

So 70 people dying and 200 injured is nothing?

The total dead and injured only amount to a 9-11 every 5 to 6 months.
(And it is trending slowly ever higher)

Its a sad state of affairs really.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

The total dead and injured only amount to a 9-11 every 5 to 6 months.
(And it is trending slowly ever higher)

Its a sad state of affairs really.

But they're Others, so who cares?

 

[FriendlyFire]

But they're Others, so who cares?

The American public arent even remotely aware of post war Iraq, let alone Afghanistan. But a large percentage of them know Obama is a muslim.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The majority of young people still don't know where Iraq is on the map. And now that US troops are no longer there, I bet the number is growing every year.

 

[kramerfan86]

I suppose the only argument that could be made that the invasion didnt hypothetically make things worse is if the Arab spring happened and Saddam was still in control his response would have likely made what Assad is doing look like a friendly hug. Still questionable whether he would have reached the level of death the invasion caused, but it would have been an utter nightmare.