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Karim Kadim / AP
The scene of a car bomb attack in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday.
BAGHDAD -- Bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and police in southern Iraq killed more than 70 people on Wednesday in a wave of attacks during a major religious festival, police and hospital sources said.
Violence in Iraq has eased since the height of the war, but Islamists tied to al-Qaida are still potent, often targeting Shiite pilgrims to try to inflame sectarian tensions that drove Iraq close to civil war in 2006-2007.
In Wednesday's attack on the capital, at least 18 people were killed when four bombs struck Shiite pilgrims across Baghdad as they gathered to mark the anniversary of the 8th-century death of Shiite imam Moussa al-Kadhim, a great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad.
Iraq's fugitive 'king of clubs' re-emerges in video?
It was the worst day of violence since early January, when four bombs in Baghdad killed 73, and the latest in a spate of bombings on Shiite religious sites.
In the southern city of Hillah, two car bombs, including one detonated by a suicide bomber, exploded outside restaurants used by police, killing 22 people and wounding 38. Two more car bombs killed four people in the mainly Shiite city of Balad.
The Associated Press reported that the death toll was expected to rise.
Wednesday's attacks came at a sensitive time. On Sunday, at least six people were killed when two mortar bombs struck a Baghdad square packed with Shiite Muslim pilgrims.
Terrorist links? Interpol issues alert for Iraq's VP
Earlier this month, 26 people were killed and more than 190 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-rigged car outside a Shiite religious office in the capital.
The last 480 troops left Iraq early Sunday morning in high spirits, happy to be heading home for the holidays. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Al-Qaida's Iraqi affiliate, Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack on the religious office.
Political tensions have been high in Iraq since the last American troops left in December, with the country's fragile government, split among Sunni-backed, Shiite and ethnic Kurdish blocks, feuding over their power-sharing accord.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
There s no comments because no one gives a dam
Everybodies trying to get their selfish petty in charge control. They don't know the meaning of team work. Sounds a lot like our Congress and Senate. I see they understand Democracy very well.
If they all are Muslims, then what the hell is the problem? That would be like Southern Baptists declaring war on Methodists. Both believe in the same god, they just practice things a little differently.
Everyone knows Al Qaida is a CIA invention. Just as some Jews live in Iran and are against Zionism, some Muslims bow to the infinitely greedy money god that loves war and war profiteering. Sunni and Shiite are more similar and have no reason to attack one another without respect for woman and children. On the other hand the Zionists and their co-conspirators who deem all but their sect of Judaism as Goyim and their chattel, hate and use all the rest of us equally. They use fiat money, infiltration of democratic governments, propaganda and news media to get the rest of us to fight and hate one another, control of the military industrial complex, sell weapons to all sides of world conflict, war profiteering booty; all to satisfy their infinite greed and allegiance to Mammon.
This domination by this synagogue of Satan sect has been doing this for a long long time. Check out the history of the Jeudeo-Christian G-d. Under Emperor Constantine the Counsel of Nicaea sifted through the writings of the day and invented God as you know it today. Oh and they burned writings about the Goddess and any other philosophy viewed as a threat to their 1687 year ZioNazi monopoly of government, monetary system, governments, and war profiteering.
Once the majority realizes these things there will be a trail that will dwarf Nuremberg Trial for war profiteering crimes and genocide. The world will be free for the first time in as many years. Utopia is possible only without the evil Judeo-Christeo-Islamic demon GOD. We should worship nature and our human potential and possibility. The speed of light is ours, time travel is ours, eternal awareness is ours; only is we work together as one species one human family; or stay with your original sin and final judgement day of extinction. It is up to you.
No,... I just had to read the arcticle first to make sure we didn't drop the car bombs.
Watch on You Tube........ From Babel and babylon to Baghdad
very good info
Thanks for your help USA..but we can handle our own security now..so git.
Un-huh!
This might be the best way to stop terrorism..let those in the middle east kill each other and we don't spent a penny or lost of life.
Another fine example of Muslim garbage! Go ahead, kill each other with brotherly love. What an idiot religion.
we invaded, kicked over the out-house; and now the crab is all over the place; what we know of the middle east can be written on the head of a pin, misson accomplished.
Who writes the bylines.? Rather frivolous saying pilgrims and "cops". This isn´t a skirmish in Kansas City or Des Moines.It´s very serious business for a country that has suffered a great deal.Iraq is doing o.k and Iraq is better off without Saddham.But there are VERY dark forces trying to subvert the progress that Iraq has made.Please don´t trivialize it!
@MNSlim--sounds like a Hollywood screenplay ready for production to me.
Either that or your meds need to be adjusted. Just were does your revisionist history of Christianity and Judaism fit in here with the crime of Sunni on Shiite violence in Iraq? The only thing your post doesn't include is the hostile alien forces. Oh, by the way the council of Nicea was more than 1,000 years before the 1687 date you threw out there.
At least the religion of love and peace are indiscriminate murderers, they kill their own not just others. Still trying to figure out where the love and peace part comes in I just see murder and hate.
Wow MNslim you forget to take your meds?
Duh, sometimes tea banger, fundamentalist Christian, Zionist supporting, original sin, final judgement day believing goyim goofs are so funny. They come up with stupid "tin foil hat" sayings and "forget the meds" sayings yet they cannot google one of the things I wrote to find out I do research and everything I write has sources and is based on truth & fact. Oh and 2012 -1687 = 325 the year of the 1st Counsel of Nicaea. When people try ad hominem attacks rather than debate historical facts; it reminds me of the movie dumb and dumber. Stupid is as stupid says and does... Have a nice day
no silly Al, it's cause it's too early in the morning.
regarding the article I feel like saying bring all the troops home, worldwide, and let the world do what it may. I surrender.
Forget about Syria and Iran too!
These groups are not civil anyway, can't see eye to eye or agree to disagee their point of view.Let them kill each other, i'll watch on the sideline. Is a pathetic, savage, violent and barbaric illiterate cult and not peaceful religion that do not allow different view.
So glad we flushed a Trillion down that toilet. Now we have new toilets...Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I read on another thread today that Pakistan is demanding we pay them an exhorbitant amount of money for something they're calling "counterterrorism activities." Since when does hiding and protecting Osama Bin Laden AND convicting the Pakistani man who helped track him down for treason and throwing him in jail for 33 years qualify as "counterterrorism activities?" Geez.
If Romney wins i'm sure we'll have another toilet or 2 to flush a trillion or so down. Our last 2 republican presidents had 3 wars between them we'll have to see if Romney ties Bush1 with a single war, ties Bush2 with 2 wars or goes for a record.
Islam is the religion of hate.
You're ignorant.
You and all the people that voted this comment are all ignorant. You have the internet for a reason so use it. Islam is actually a religion of peace. Look it . There is one sect that is extreme and kills but they aren't considered Muslims. Sunni is the only kind of real Muslim as stated that people who come up with their own beliefs to add to the Holy Qu'ran are doomed. Next time do some research before you are going to put a ignorant comment like this.
squid-4283277: Yes, also a religion of Satan! look at the results!
Christianity: "love thy neighbour as thyself."
Islam is a political religion that is filled with hate and atrocities, they care nothing about children being maimed and murdered in the name of allah. Do you really believe that these sick people checked to see if there were any children in the world trade centers, do you think they cared if there were children on those planes they hijacked. They are cowards who stand behind a coward god and will not come together as a military and fight against men, they bomb cafes and buildings without regard to who is in them. They use women and children to commit suicide in the name of their political religion. Thank God Jehovah and his Son Jesus Christ that most Americans recognise that these people want nothing but to advance their religion of servitude of women and atrocities against all who resist them.
To albaniasoccer; if what you say is true then why haven't all other so called sunnu muslims taken up arms against these people. Why haven't they stood on the housetops and shouted out that these people are the true infidels and turned them in and helped put a stop to their murders. It is said you cannot straddle the fence you are either for or against God. Do you really believe that God will slap you on the back and say well done when you murder the innocent.
Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses and even Jesus are in the Quran, I read it. The Quran or Koran is basically a Bible commentary said to be written by Mohammed. In other words anybody who says "Islam is a religion of hate" is saying Judaism and Christianity are religions of hate. If anybody that makes such comments about Islam were smart and diligent enough to read their Bible from cover to cover they would know that the Judeo-Christeo-Islamic religion and God are hateful, sadistic and evil tools of Satan Mammon worshipers.
Watch on You Tube........... From Babel and Babylon to Baghdad
MNSSlim, any god that needs human help to kill people or use force to follow him is a weak and limp god worthy of no worship. I say that if Allah needed Mohamed to use the sword to spread religion, then Allah is not a good and loving god, but a hateful POS god.
All religions promote segregation and hatred of anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. Religion is a man-made invention and is no longer relevant in todays technological world. Religion is now only a cultists tool to manipulate the weak minded to commit acts of terror.
It has become a terrible thing in some people's eyes. Nothing but hypocrisy and judgement it seems.
Doesn't tak much research to know the truth all you have to do is read headlines around the world to see 95% of all terrorist acts are commited by muslims. Throughout africa, the middle east and far east in 50 countries for 50 different causes.
Albaniasoccer: You say Sunni Muslims are the only true Muslims so clearly all the rest that call themselves Muslims deserve to die. Maybe it's Sunni's refusing to accept others faith even if different than their own that's the problem. I don't recall the name but one of the most extremist leader in Iraq after we invaded was Sunni. He directed his attacks from Iran and bombed Shiite neighborhoods almost daily. I guess Sunnis are peaceful as long as your a Sunni.
Nation building win their hearts and minds and they will become a democracy- that line of Horse Pucky from Bush , Cheney, Rumsfiled, Petraeus and all the rest is really proving true
@ODB2, I don't feel that it's right to put Gen. Petraus in the same class as these guys. He was given an order by his Com. in Cheif. His orders are simple,"I want this Accomplished." People in position of leadership don't ask questions they go out and accomplish, or try to, do the mission. Most Civs. don't have understanding in this direction nor have a clue what's like to follow that directive even if it's suicidal. It is a diciplan and you don't always come out smelling like a rose. Although I was in the Army, I would follow a man Like Gen. Petraus with out question.
You better add obamy to the list, did he not send more troops into afganistan and has he not used more drones than anyone. Instead of trying to capture and get info he has killed leaders and civilians many times more than bush etc. Is there any wonder the leaders of paskistan and afgainistan do not like him/us.
All we hear is the worst that happens. Wonder if the country has improved. But we won't hear it from the liberal, anti-WBD(whatever Bush did) media.
"fragile government, split among Sunni-backed, Shiite and ethnic Kurdish blocks, feuding over their power-sharing accord."
It is going to be worse as the time goes by.
Hope the world wakes up to the dangers of Sunni Islamic extremists like Salafi, Wahhabi, al-Qaida, MB rampaging all over the world.
1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high through their outsourced Iraqi wars.
2. Oil companies and their lobbyists also benefitted. Oil prices, which were hardly $30 a barrel before 1991, shot up to $140 a barrel.
3. Since 2003, future traders, rating agencies, Wall Street and oil companies and their lobbyists transferred five trillion dollars from oil importing countries to oil exporting nations.
4. Rich Sunni ME sharks (Saudi Arabia in particular) funded Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques and Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world. These Sunni Islamic radicals and terrorists are rampaging all over the world. World’s 80 percent of problems are due to them.
Let the people read the writing on the wall: we can't do nothing in their own battles and if we take sides and intervene in Syria and Iran on the directions of Saudis and co, we will be crippled beyond repair for decades.
I say we stay out of syria until the arab nations around it do something, they will turn into another egypt, iran anyway and hate us after we help, so stay out unless as I said earlyer the other arab nations send in troops and kick assad out.
You ar blaming them for the problems? Why don't you blame ex President Bush for the War in Iraq; Why don't you blame ex President Reagan for the Iran-Contra problems; Why don't blame ex President Carter for the sudden jump in oil prices; Why don't you blame ex President Nixon for allowing off shore drilling in North Vietnam; Why don't you blame the world for something that is not just one person, it is a conglomerate of spy vs. spy. If you really want to fix all the probems you see, then create your own little corporate machine and eliminate the problems. Otherwise you are doing exactly what the people you hate, want you to do..
peter Karl: You have named leaders/politicians. Already many are discredited.
As I am an infidel, I don't care much what jihadi people think.
As jihadis are busy fighting among themselves, I am pleading for us (infidels) keeping miles away from them such that I can get a breather from their hates and killer plans.
Now remember boys and girls...Islam is the religion of "Peace", too bad the culture isn't.
Um this is mostly political violence to see who gains power has very little to do with religion its used as an excuse just as it was during the 100 year war in Europe between the protestants and Catholics. And Arabs make up 10% of the Muslim Population in today's world.
Old dad,
I think you meant "Islam is the religion of pieces"!
Nice try Yusef (or is your name Cat Stevens?) Sorry, regressed for a minute. Dont try to hang this on political violence. @!$%#e's and Sunni's have been doing this to each other for hundreds of years and it is ALL based on who they believe is the proper religious figure and the subsequent family members to follow. If the @!$%#e's and Sunni's had their way, genocide would be the final answer as they cannot and will not ever agree. By the way, MSN is flagging the first religion's name. I am not swearing or anything crude. I guess they believe I am trying to say a bad word.
Yusef... "has very little to do with religion." LOL!!
Holly Shi'ite Batman. Mislooms are eating themselves. This could be the solution to them and their cult. Put them in the same aquarium and let them have at it.
Absolutely nothing wrong with population control, especially in that part of the world.
I used to think we could make a difference in Iraq. After a decade of thought, I firmly believe this cesspool will never be habitable. It is possessed and full of demonic Moozers, some good, many bad.
It may be time to bring everything and everyone toward home. Button up the borders and let the outside world implode.
Agree. We can take care of ourselves and cannot change what has been going on for hundreds of years. I do not care what Russia or China threatens we must continue to buiild up our defensive weapons and if it is possible a wall of anti-missle defenses all around the United States. We must however never use biological or chemical weapons, never. We must continue to try to advance the laser as a defense and I do not understand why the government has not made fallout shelters available to all Americans who want them and I mean completly stocked with lifesaving provisions to last at least a year. America has not started a war without it being attacked first and we have never joined into a conflict without being asked for help. We must get out of these countries where they hate us and even when we come to their aid afterward they turn against us. They want us to send our sons and daughters to die for their cause but afterwards they turn on us. It is time we start to take care of America first and if our allies do not back us up then they should shoulder their own burden.
It's not possessed by demons it's possessed by Muslims.
Because Hillary and Obama want to involve the US in Syria, it gets lots and lots of attention. Iraq, which we have left, gets little. The UN says Syria is in a civil war situation, but isn't Iraq also? But it will be ignored. It is time to let them fight it out and for us to stay out of it. And we need to leave Afghanistan as fast as possible. The Afghans are nothing but tribal savages who know of nothing more than inter-tribal violence, and do not want to learn anything different.
Let them kill each other
Stupid hippies. College is not a right. Go get a job.
Rights are not rights if someone can take them away. All we have ever had in this country is a Bill of Temporary Privilages. And if you can read you know the list gets shorter all the time. ( somewhat butchered quote from George Carlin.)
hope you got your money's worth ($3 TRILLION), America for those WDMs. 'Course, that's a low-ball figure since it's not including what it's going to cost to take care of all your veterans. Yep, a real smart investment that one.
I've been told that muhammed said kill all those who will not convert to islam. So what's up with killing those that are already muslim? Scientist's have never cured a virus. The only way to rid the world of a life taking virus is leave it alone to run its course. Pretty soon the virus kills all its hosts. Voila! No virus.
So what's up with killing those that are already muslim? Apparently, those being killed just aren't the right kind of muslim!!!
I'll give the Afghans some credit, they make good hash.
Seven,
They mis-interpreted that line and only got the killing part. They kill now anyone who doesn't comply to their type of Islam as in Sunni versus Shia versus Alawite versus ??. Barbaric is a good descriptive adjective for these backward folk.
Ban the teaching of ALL religions for one generation and all of that nonsense will go away for a while, along with the accompanying hate and exclusion, until some idiot invents it again.
Stalin and Mao were communists who didn't believe in God or religion. Together they killed more people than every person killed in religious wars in history. Why don't we just ban idiotic comments from lefties.
First off, pray for the families of these victims and for the souls of the deceased. What senseless violence borne of fear and hate.
Second, it is clearly long past time to reject the frequent mantra that 'all (religion) paths lead to God'. They most certainly do not. Violence and the peace that a true religion speaks to are diametrically opposed.
Religion is about the only thing holding the human race together these days, and has helped FAR more people that it has ever hurt (it's just it's not news worthy). It's man's interpretation of their respective religion that F's everything up.
@Matt-1044708
Seriously? The Crusades? Up to 10 of them..
The Spanish Inquisition?
Catholic priests molesting children and it's covered up?
How about when "God" told the Jews to slaughter the Canaanites for their land?
yeah, real good
Ban the teaching of ALL religions for one generation and all of that nonsense will go away for a while, along with the accompanying hate and exclusion, until some idiot invents it again.
I just love their religious festivals, they really get wild and don't even serve alcohol at them. Imagine what it would be like if the did.
.....and people that attend a religious festival can expect to have a blast.
Ah yes... It's springtime and the smell of death is in the air. The true believers in the peaceful religion of Islam are murdering each other and anybody else within their reach to celebrate a religious festival. How awe inspiring! I guess the best the civilized world can hope for is that they hurry up and kill each other off and take as few of the rest of us with them as possible.
Oh yeah, and in response to my post some moronic, atheist apologist for Muslims is going to post that all religions have these sorts of issues, like the Christians during the crusades, blah, blah, blah, etc. Uh huh, yeah, whatever...
"Political tensions have been high in Iraq since the last American troops left in December, with the country's fragile government, split among Sunni-backed, Shiite and ethnic Kurdish blocks, feuding over their power-sharing accord."
Why is it that you never hear of any big dog muslim from any sect condemn the violence?!?!? Is that not news worthy or is it that such comments just don't exist???
Human shields, murders at "religious" festivals. What is with islam? muhammed and allah must be SO proud!!
If he were alive I'm sure he would be. He is the instigator after all.
Compliments of your Allah Loving Muslim Bastards, the ones we are told to appease and not offend!
Muslims killing Muslims. Who don't they kill?
Hopefully the troops we still have in Iraq are all safe
No good comes from religion.
You're comments are way way way overboard! Ask those that are naked, but clothed; hungry, but fed; homeless, but sheltered; troubled, but consoled by all the various christian charities and others. I would imagine those affected have no problem with religion.
BTW, sure it isn't swineda??&
I am sure a lot of them are Atheist as well Wagonmaster...
Believe in Dave because he believes in you..
Yeah right...
Maybe Muslims just get the hint. The "Great Satan" isn't American but is really other Muslims.
IT IS CLEAR WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE ! ! !
1. Those Darn Christians ! ! ! We need to have those "passive Islamists" from that "Religion of Peace" watch over Iraq.... then... it's all better.
2. REPUBLICANS ! ! ! They are at fault. You may ask, 'how do you know?" Well, I dont; but I AM going to watch MSNBC today, they always find a way to blame Republicans.
Regarding your second comment, George, if the shoe fits, wear it!!!!