BillCosby

Three car bombs have exploded in the southern Iraqi city of Amara, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 100, police say.

Two bombs exploded in a car park packed with labourers waiting to travel to work, and a third detonated as people gathered to inspect the damage.

Amara is 350km (236 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad, in Maysan province.

It is a mainly Shia area, with four groups - three with armed militias - competing for political supremacy.

The attack is one of the deadliest in Iraq in recent months and comes amid an upsurge of violence in the past week, which has seen senior security and political figures targeted.

There has been no word on who was behind any of the attacks but correspondents say they are probably related to a power struggle among Shia factions.

Power struggle

Police in Baghdad say the three bombs exploded in quick succession at about 1100 local time (0800 GMT).


Map of Iraq

Who are the bombers?

There are conflicting reports on the number of casualties, but the city council's security chief told the BBC that 39 people were killed, and 125 more were hurt.

Most of the dead and injured are said to have been caught by the third blast.

The explosions tore apart cars and left pools of blood on the ground. The city's hospitals were stretched to the limit trying to treat injuries, a police official said.

Correspondents say it is rare for the area to experience car bomb attacks of this kind.

A curfew and a driving ban have been imposed on the city and Iraqi troops have been deployed on the streets.

The provincial police chief with responsibility for Amara has been fired.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki condemned the attack as an attempt to distract attention from recent improvements in security in Iraq.

It comes amid rising tensions in the southern oil-producing region as the UK scales down its troop presence.

Four different Shia groups, three of them with their own militias, are vying for control in the Amara area, says the BBC's Patrick Howse in Baghdad.

Iraqi forces took over responsibility for security in Maysan province in April.

A similar handover is expected next week in neighbouring Basra province, ending Britain's control in four of Iraq's southern provinces.

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

bornright

Does this really tell you that the surge is not working? The thing that is not working is the success of the media in bombarding us with exaggerated untruths of the many successes we have in Iraq. With each days passing, many of the doomsday politicans, are slowing going to back off on the "we can't win" silliness. It wasn't too long ago and all you could hear from the politicans was we are being defeated. Murtha and his group had us being drove into the desert and being slaughtered. When the general gave his speech to congress just a few months ago he was called a liar and critized. Has anyone of the politicans that was so critical to what he reported apologized to him yet, after all he reported the truth and they are aware of it now?

BillCosby

First, victory &/or defeat in this case is up to who is doing the defining...... Hey that is alot like most cases..........

IMO the usa clearly won the war...... They/bush decided to do what he said he would never do.. "nation build"........... That he has failed to do.........

Also IMO the media & the duplicitous democrats have given bush a free hand & a free ride....... He certainly has been handled kinder then many that have come before him..........

A political solution has not come about as a result of force........ Will not the result be the same if you are merely applying more of the same???


If it makes you feel good I guess you can claim a victory but really what has changed??? Nothing........ The application of force will still be needed in order to maintain the status quo...........

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

eagleclaw

http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/20...-happened.html

Silliness? You obviously have a very limited source for your news. Here is some NEWS that you either didn't hear about or chose to ignore.


Monday, October 23, 2006
CAMP FALCON: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
by Sarah Meyer
Index Research
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Camp Falcon explosions. Photo : Al Jazeera



Iraqis and Americans must read the information below. They must watch the two videos. And then they, and people over the world, must ask the U.S. government for a full and open explanation of what happened at Camp Falcon, Baghdad, on the 10th of October 2006.

Index has had the following report from an Iraqi concerning the explosions at As Saqr / Camp Falcon. I am not sure it was the 'resistance' that caused the explosion, nor am I sure that the video was transmitted by jazeera ... but give you the following information anyway.


"The resistance attacked Camp Falcon south of Baghdad. This camp is considered as the most important munition camp. The explosions in the camp continued for three hours and was transmitted in direct on Al Jazeera. The resistance filmed the explosions and diffused them on the internet.

Iraq for ever of Fadhil Badrani translated the information on US Pentagon site which says that there were 5000 soldiers in this camp. But the Pentagon the same night declared that there were only 100 soldiers. This was evident is to hide the losses.

The resistance in Falluja and Habaniyah that there were 9 gros porteurs planes landed in Habaniyah the same night where there is a US military hospital.

Iraqis says that the attack costed US 1 million dollars, many hundred deaths and the conviction that controlling Baghdad plan is but a mirage."


Iraqi Resistance rockets blast into biggest American arsenal in Iraq
10.10.06. Iraqi Resistance Report. "The source admitted that dozens of Americans had been killed or wounded in the blasts that were still ripping the American arsenal apart. The source said that the US forces were unable to do anything to stop the massive inferno of flame and explosions that was lighting up the Baghdad sky like fireworks. Reuters reported the puppet regime's "Iraqiyah" television network as showing pictures of a huge fire lighting up the night sky."

Iraqi Resistance rockets blast into biggest American arsenal in Iraq setting off unprecedented explosions, illuminating Baghdad sky just before midnight Tuesday
11.10.06. Iraqi Resistance Report.

Nine huge American transport planes unload casualties from devastating Resistance strike on US Falcon Base in Baghdad just before midnight Tuesday, indicating heavy American losses
11.10.06. Iraqi Resistance Report. "In a bulletin posted at 2am Makkah time before dawn Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported its correspondent in al-Habbaniyah as saying that the US military hospital at the massive American-occupied air base there had begun to receive dead and wounded personnel from the devastating Resistance rocket assault on the US Falcon arsenal in the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah. Just before midnight Tuesday, the Iraqi Resistance fired barrages of Katyusha and Grad rockets into the arsenal, the largest such facility in occupied Iraq, causing the ordnance to begin to explode."

US ammo dump ablaze in Iraq
11.10.06. Al Jazeera.net

Insurgents Hit U.S. Base in Baghdad
11.10.06. AP / Guardian. When I asked the Guardian (20.02.07) why this article is no longer available, 'Userhelp' replied: "The link you have provided was for an AP story. It is possible the article was removed because our rights to show the story expired."

Video.
11.10.06. BBC

Munitions dump blown in Baghdad. Nobody talking.
11.10.06. Daily Kos.

Resistance mortars pound US troops working to clear out ruined Falcon Forward Base on Thursday night
12.10.06. Iraqi Resistance Report.
Also on 12.10: "Nine huge transport planes ferry American casualties to al-Habbaniyah airbase from devastating Tuesday night Resistance strike on US Falcon arsenal, indicating heavy American losses. US claims "no casualties," but Iraqi regime evacuates 90 injured puppet troops to ar-Ramadi hospital."

Devastating Attack Destroys US Falcon Base
12.10.06. M. Abu Nasr, jihadunspun.

Ammo Dump Explosions Investigation
15.10.06. Roads to Iraq. "The Iraqi source, who refused to reveal his identity, said that dozens of American soldiers were killed in those explosions. The source pointed out that six Iraqi translators were killed in those explosions. American forces refused to hand over the bodies of the dead Iraqis to their families without giving reasons."

Falcon Ammo Dump Destruction Photos
17.10.06. Rense com.

Devastating Attack Destroys US Falcon Base Striking A Severe Blow To US Forces
20.10.06. Free Arab Voice / Indymedia. "A source in the Iraqi puppet regime told Mafkarat al-Islam that the Resistance blasted the American arsenal, known as Camp Falcon, with Grad and Katyusha rockets. The source admitted that dozens of Americans had been killed or wounded in the blasts that were still ripping the American arsenal apart. Major General Bilal Ahmad al-Ithawi, an adviser to the Iraqi Defense Minister for transport and supply, visited ad-Durah on Wednesday morning and told Mafkarat al-Islam that the attack had inflicted enormous losses on the US military that could total more than US$1 billion."

No reported casualties at Camp Falcon, eh?
22.10.06. abutamam.

Video. Tactical nuke explodes in Iraq?
"On October 11, 2006, a Tactical Nuclear Device appears to have exploded when fire broke out in an ammunition dump at Camp Falcon inside Iraq. Video from live nightly newscast in Baghdad caught the detonation - miles away - with it's characteristic ENORMOUS blinding white flash, a rising core of fire then a small mushroom cloud!" 5.21 min. *THIS FILM WAS REMOVED BY GOOGLE (28.10.06).

Another (black and white) film can be seen here. A further film (strong language), undated and unlabeled thus not confirmed "Camp Falcon" can be seen here.

Two sites are worth visiting:
video search Camp Falcon (10 videos).
and
video search ammo dump (10 videos).

The BRussells Tribunal received the following communication from depleted uranium (DU) researcher Dai Williams with regard to the recent (now deleted) ‘google’ video, as previously seen in Camp Falcon: What Really Happened.

“The good news is that the brilliant explosions in what appears to be an Al-Jazeera TV report are unlikely to be mini-nukes. They are very similar to the thermobaric bunker buster explosions seen on TV in Baghdad in March 2003 and in Beirut in August 2006.

The bad news is that in my reports these are suspected undepleted uranium warheads. They are not fission weapons. But they burn with an intense flash and fireball sometimes leaving a shower of burning shrapnel as white stars. These have been confused with white phosphorus. They are not. Phosphorus has too low density for the shrapnel trajectories seen in TV and camera shots. Also burning phosphorus leaves a massive trail of white smoke. Uranium burns with black smoke, almost invisible in night pictures.

Another clip on the same website is the most graphic image of a fairly small - perhaps 1000 lb - penetrator or thermobaric warhead that I have yet seen. It illustrates exactly the features listed above.

Then look at the first 20 seconds of the BBC TV news report from Lebanon on 4th August. I used stills from this in my report of 30 August.

I would expect any nuclear device to create far wider blast effects than shown in the still photographs of the camp. …

The Falcon fire is a relevant connection which reminds us that some of these unconventional weapons are being used in several conflict zones now - Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and in Gaza and the occupied territories.”

Dai Williams,
http://www.eoslifework.co.uk
25.10.06.

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All the time, always

nroberts

It's interesting. All those years ago when this war started there were those who said we'd be stuck there for a long time. Doomsday prophets claiming that it would be another Vietnam, or another Afghanistan like the Russians had. People kept claiming that it would create an increased instability in the region and cause a civil war that would last years if we invaded Iraq.

Then Bush declared, "Mission Accomplished," within the first year. Boy did that show those dumb shits!

mudwhistle

Al-Jazeera, DailyKos, and Rense. Three of a kind. The enemies of freedom.

eagleclaw

No surprise that you left out the other sources of this NEWS. Do you ever read the message? Or are you content in shooting the messenger?

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All the time, always

BillCosby

Some of those idiots saying we would be stuck in a quagmire there were doing so way back in 1994............

These idiots contradict all the bull shit from mud, bush & cheny....... One of those idiots was even cheney........
If we only knew then what we know now.......

Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire C-SPAN

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

mudwhistle

That was a pre-9/11 mindset. Everything changed on that day. Bill Clinton was content to do nothing when they attacked the Khobar Towers and the USS Cole. After they attacked us here, all that thinking had to change. Al Gore might have tried to surrender after that but Bush did the smart thing and went on the offensive.

jdanton

Mud my old friend. I like you. It's not easy, but I like you.

remember back when I didn't believe Saddam had any WMD's, and I said the 'war' would be quick, but the 'peace' would be hell?

Remember the general that told Bush he'd need 300,000 troops, and got fired?

Remember how we won their hearts and minds by securing the oil fields, but not the museums, libraries, or the shops on Main Street?

Remember when I asked you why elections in Iraq would automatically bring a stable country?

I hate to say I told you so, but the fact is: I TOLD YOU SO.

The measure of the surge's success has nothing to do with whether violence is up or down, but if a stable country and region is getting closer.

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Author: Memoirs of a Sleepless Mind, a book you CAN judge by its cover.