E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA wave of seemingly synchronized bomb and gun attacks swept Iraq on Monday. With scores killed throughout the country, the death toll was the highest seen so far in 2012. NBC's Kristy Breetzke reports.
Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A wave of bombings and an attack on an Iraqi military base killed more than 100 people on Monday. The death toll made it the bloodiest day of the year in the country, The Associated Press reported.
In addition to those killed, at least 268 other people were wounded by bombings and shootings in Shiite areas of Baghdad, the town of Taji to the north, the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul and many other places, hospital and police sources told Reuters.
The bloodshed, which coincided with an intensifying of the conflict in neighboring Syria, pointed up the deficiencies of the Iraqi security forces, which failed to prevent insurgents from striking in multiple locations across the country.
No group has claimed responsibility for the wave of assaults but a senior Iraqi security official blamed the local wing of al-Qaida, made up of Sunni Muslim militants bitterly hostile to the Shiite-led government, which is friendly with Iran.
"Recent attacks are a clear message that al-Qaida in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
"With what's going on in Syria, these attacks should be taken seriously as a potential threat to our country. Al-Qaida is trying to push Iraq to the verge of Shiite-Sunni war," he said. "They want things to be as bad as in Syria."
'Innocent people killed'
The last two days of attacks shattered a two-week lull in violence in the run-up to the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which started in Iraq on Saturday.
Sectarian slaughter peaked in 2006-2007 but deadly attacks have persisted while political tensions among Iraq's main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have increased since U.S. troops completed their withdrawal in December.
"I ask the government if security forces are capable of keeping control," a man named Ahmed Salim shouted angrily at the scene of a car bomb in Kirkuk. "With all these bloody bombs and innocent people killed, the government should reconsider its security plans," he told Reuters Television.
Trail of destruction
The security forces themselves were often the targets or victims of the assaults perpetrated across Iraq.
Gunmen using assault rifles and hand grenades killed at least 16 soldiers in an attack on an army post near Dhuluiya, 45 miles north of Baghdad, police and army sources said.
In Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, six explosions, including a car bombing, occurred near a housing complex. A seventh blast there caused carnage among police who had arrived at the scene of the earlier ones. In all, 32 people were killed, including 14 police, with 48 wounded, 10 of them police.
Two car bombs struck near a government building in Sadr City, a vast, poor Shiite swathe of Baghdad, and in the mainly Shiite area of Hussainiya on the outskirts of the capital, killing a total of 21 people and wounding 73, police said.
Full international coverage from NBCNews.com
Nine people, including six soldiers, were killed in attacks in the northern city of Mosul, police and army sources told Reuters.
In Kirkuk, five car bombs killed six people and wounded 17, while explosions and gun attacks on security checkpoints around the restive province of Diyala killed six people, including four soldiers and policemen, and wounded 30, police sources told Reuters.
Other deadly attacks occurred in the towns of Khan Bani Saad, Udhaim, Tuz Khurmato, Samarra and Dujail, all north of Baghdad, as well as in the southern city of Diwaniya.
The orchestrated spate of violence followed car bombs on Sunday in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf that killed a total of 20 people and wounded 80.
Last month was one of the bloodiest since the U.S. withdrawal, with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded.
Latest news about Iraq from NBCNews.com
Iraq, whose huge desert province of Anbar, a Sunni heartland, borders Syria, is nervous about the impact of the conflict in its neighbor where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to end President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite-dominated rule.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took refuge in Syria from bloodshed that lasted for years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Last week the Iraqi government urged them to return home to escape the violence in Syria.
20 unarmed men executed in Damascus, Syria activists say; battle begins for Aleppo
At least 80 buses laden with returning Iraqi refugees crossed the border last week, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
Iraq's Shiite-led government is also worried about the longer-term implications if Assad falls and Syria's majority Sunnis overthrow the supremacy of the president's Alawite sect, which traces its roots to Shiite Islam.
A sectarian struggle for control in post-Assad Syria could raise tensions across the border and damage Iraq's chances of overcoming its own formidable security and political challenges.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Reports: Workers told to underplay Fukushima radiation
- US F-16 fighter jet crashes off coast of Japan
- Gunman in Afghan police uniform kills 3, wounds several
- Explosion, fire shuts down Turkey-Iraq oil pipeline; PKK blamed
- Assad reportedly directs troops from tribal heartland as rebels flood capital
- UN extends Syria observer mission as fighting continues
- Video: Lost in translation: Do the English speak English?
Follow World News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
sooo,
Why would I really care? Seriously, does anybody care about Iraq anymore?! We are not there, we tried, it did not work, let's just move on!
Hopefully no more government changing via force ever again. Hopefully we learned!!! HOPEFULLY!!!
Arabs are rising and they are rising fast and well. Enjoy their glory because you could learn from it.
Iraq is just another toilet in a series of toilets in the Middle East. If not for the oil the world would be more than content to allow them to continue living in the sixth century. Unfortunately it's a resource we need so we have to deal with the cr@p. Hence the toilet remark.
I care anytime innocent people die- especailly when the United States started this "civl war" once again we showed how to "win their hearts and minds"
i felt maybe a little clairity on what you are saying... if i somehow misunderstood?....
i am so full of allah, all i see are virgin camels!! WHO COULD WANT MORE!?
because we almost lost the war in Iraq to freedom, we pray to our dirty camel of a god Allah the infidels never return!!! never!!
My dirty camel worshiping brothers have been brain washing more, and more idiots who have no clue as our numbers of more idiots rise...
personally buddy... you and you arabs brothers can talk about the rise under your robe and how glorious YOU THINK it is and all.... but no matter how you llok at it, ours will always be bigger than yours, and if you think what you got is a "rise in glory" to learn from??? ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!???? i'll have to pass your words of wisdom onto the guys at work, nuthin like a super great laugh to start a monday!
@OBD2,
WE didnt start the civil war. it was the morons who wanted to rule the roost once Saddam was ousted. THERE IS a difference. WHY is it so many fight for the (lol) Arab Spring? for the same F'ing thing we made possible in Iraq, Afghanistan.... democracy.
and what i find as a real hoot!!!? you people dont have the nads (courage) to take the fight where it belongs, you kill innocent people! if you take pride in that, you lick camel ass for a daily treat.
Arabs are rising? No, they are changing governments. So a new oppressive government can be in its place. Then there will be more rebellions. more massacres. More suicide bombings. And so on and so forth, until forever. These people need to learn peace and cooperation before they can learn freedom. Too bad their fundamentalist ideals teach them its OK to run around massacring people who have a different opinion.
Time to get the rest our troops out of ALL the Middle East. Baghdad will never look like Salt Lake City or Club Med Waikiki, nor will its inhabitants ever get out of the fifth century.
Ya, hold your breath on EITHER one.
The world has passed them by. Too bad, so sad.
I knew it, I just knew it! There had to be at least one person who would blame America for this. HELLO! These people have been doing this to each other long before there even was an America.
These bombings should not be placed at our doorstep. These people simply cannot live together in peace and harmony. And why? It's all about religion, a religion that was founded and institutionalized when only Indians lived in America.
Who is to blame for these bombing, present past and future? Iraqis.
I get here this morning and see 16 comments... not one with outrage over @!$%#ing George Bush and the Dick Cheney spending a trillion of our hard earned tax dollars on this @!$%#-hole just so their oilfield trash buddies would have good contracts. He is so embarrassed and knows what a failure he was as President he is not even going to the Republican Convention. And we would elect another pansy ass Rich Republican, I hope we a smarter than that!
@mathew ABDELHAK? What kind of name is that? You could have made your point with a few less prepositions and adjectives. I got a step-son a lot like you, not as colorful in his descriptions but same attitude. He wonders why no one wants to be his friend, he's 49 and hasn't figured it out yet either.
@mathew abdelhak: Well, I, for one, reported your comment as inflammatory. You need a lot of therapy, some strong medication and English language lessons. And until all that is successfully completed, do yourself a favor and stay away from commenting on the internet. You only succeeded at embarrassing yourself.
The problem is that we destabilized the region by invading Iraq. Perhaps Saddam Hussein was a dictator, but many more people have died since George W. Bush invaded them with his operation "Liberation Iraq", covering his mistake of telling us that there were weapons of mass destruction.
We are to blame for all these deaths.
@mathew: Nope, not a valley girl. Just a Desert Storm vet who later went into teaching Human Communications at an American college in Europe.
The last person on this page to critique my English is you. Undoubtedly, you have no acquaintance with the use of a comma.
And one last thing. Your crude use of the vernacular is a banal, sheepish attempt to conceal your fragile and weak mind and body!
We gave it one hell of a try a Trillion dollars worth, that probably a low ball figure seeing its still cost to rehabilitate our troops and other wear expenditures not included. These people don't want to see change especially from someone else.
Mat - Decaf may help your perspective.
As far as any point that you may have been attempting to make, as soon as you insult you lose. (as did the comments that you are objecting too)
But then (and I will use commas as I see fit-or not at all) your anger is rather evident and obviously beyond control or restraint.
Not to mention there were eight other countries that spent trying reintegrate Iraq and their wasteland.
And the surprise is exactly what? All of that money and the lives of many of our soldier's... hope it was worth it George! We need to get out of Afghanistan NOW! It is worse than Iraq and will fall into chaos about 10 minutes after we leave there.
Colin Powell said it best: "You broke it, you bought it."
Iraq was much better off under Saddam. Far less violence and almost no acts of terror.
This life style of fighting has been that way for many centuries, which was all the more reason for not going into that war to begin with. What a waste of money and valuable lives in this war. I guess the U.S. didn't learn their lesson in Korea and Viet Nam.
workingpoor-2370498 " If not for the oil the world would be more than content to allow them to continue living in the sixth century. Unfortunately it's a resource we need so we have to deal with the cr@p."
Actually, we can have it both ways - they can still live in the sixth century, and we still get to use their oil.
The comments here dehumanizing Iraqi people, who did not attack us on 9/11, expresses that they themselves are becoming dehumanized goyim chattel. "Who cares", "hope more of them die" and they probably call themselves Christians as they worship the people behind Revelations 2:9. The big Johnson republican from Wisconsin says that high capacity gun magazines are a second amendment right. The hate you display for Iraqis is coming back upon you folks faster than you know. Your news is just propaganda from the war profiteering monetary system monopolizers who own you. It does not have to be this way.
I am surprised at all the ignorance and vile posted here...well maybe not. Ahmed speaks of Iraq in the 3rd person, like an American. Noone should infer that he is anything but just becuase his name is Ahmad. And he says: "Why should I care?" Is there anything more American than that? We should care because we're the ones that went in and wrecked the country, and enabled it's division and the Iranian influence that has taken root. The notion that Iraq was some backwoods country like Afghanistan has no basis in fact, and should shoved back up the ass from whence it came. Iraq, like Iran is/was very modern and westernized before we flattened it to serve our own greedy ends. And we enabled their civil war by deposing the dictator keeping two warring religious factions at bay while wrecking the infrastructure at the same time. HMM, religious wars...so yesterday. That wouldn't happen in a 21st-century country like the US.
Dick, Head, Cheney came out last week to let members of the Republican Congress know that they must not allow the automatic cuts to the Defense Department occur on 1/1/2013, "You need to continue to fund the pipeline, so you can plan your next war."
What a heartless dickhead.
Well, Sanity Check. Guess you didn't read Ahmed's last sentence. Give us a break. I agree about the Saddam part, but he wasn't a great guy (not to mention his sons), and his biography says that he killed people to get his post. Wasn't there also many people who went missing (like with Stalin) and mass graves found after his capture. He seems to have kept his country in check, but in a dictatorship like that, news would not be allowed out anyway.
Just a @!$%#-hole country with a @!$%#-hole religion. Nothing will ever change there, let them kill each other, it's what they deserve.
Autocratic, highly corrupt and despotic bigoted Sunni Sunni Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Kuwaiti cruel jokes are being orchestrated in Syria and Iran.
In these bombings, Sunni Saudi proxy al-Qaida is involved. In Syria, Syrian rebels are backed by a-Qaida and MB. In Egypt, Islamic fundamentalist Morsi is a front cover for the Sunni Islamic extremist Salaffi, MB and others.
ME is not our business. Just keep miles away.
IRAQ WARS
Net results of Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, oil companies and their lobbyists directed 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars are
WINNERS
1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high.
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.
LOSERS
1. General US and European nations’ public. There have been high unemployment, cut in welfare measures, housing market collapse and more miseries. Since 2001, US spent three trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghan wars. Did the Saudis and co foot the bill?
2. Poor soldiers killed and injured and their families. In Iraq and Afghan wars 6300 soldiers were killed and 40000 injured.
3. High budget deficits and heavier borrowing. Many nations (PIIGS) and people are on line to bankruptcy!
4. Iraq will plunge into bloody sectarian civil wars leading to the creation of Shiastan, Sunnistan and Kurdistan. Here the losses are of Iraqis.
NaughtyMossy, don't attack other Viners, don't smear everyone in a religion/region. You're suspended for a week for violating #1 and #5 of the Code of Honor.
Matthew Abdelhak, this might as well read, 'This comment is useless, ignore.' Banned, first comment flameout.
Read the rules, folks:
...
roger white-3731376, you're suspended for a day for violating #1 of the Code of Honor.
My you are up very early Tyler! Good morning.
MNSlim " The hate you display for Iraqis is coming back upon you folks faster than you know"
While you are correct in condemning any hatred shown to the Iraqis because of their suffering, perhaps Americans would feel better about them if they showed a little more appreciation for the sacrifice in blood and treasure we made on their behalf.
The thing is Jonathon, the Repubs think they were liberating the Iraqi's. Remember GWB declared victory aboard an aircraft carrier in San Diego bay just days after Saddam was overthrown, before the US started losing men and women by the thousands in the civil war the Repub leadership started. On top of that, Rumsfeld didn't want to support the widows and children of the men and women that were killed. He also didn't want to spend thousands for the care of those who came back wounded, he felt the VA should be doing that. The VA couldn't get med. records though from military to help in the determination of what the veterans needed. Oh by the way, I'm a Vietnam era Veteran who has seen the same treatment by the same Republicans.
Max^108 "Iraq was much better off under Saddam. Far less violence and almost no acts of terror."
Yeah - especially since we never really saw any of those 200,000 Iraqi's that Hussein murdered in his own country. By that measure, Hitler was a good leader too - until September 1, 1939.
Thanks, again, Shrub, for the illegal invasion and destruction of Iraq.
More blow-back from the Bush Doctrine! The whole Arab region is in turmoil because Dumbiyah wanted to bring democracy to the Middle East. This project and the aftermath will have to be evaluated by future historians. Right now, who knows what the hell will happen since Dumbiyah & Darth Chaney lit the fuse. Hope their both pleased with the results so far. Retirement is to good for them, in fact they should interred in the nearest federal prison and the key discarded. Two bone head cattle rustlers!
The Bush Legacy of thousands of more people dying because of his lying our nation into war. Then he had no plan once he toppled Saddam allowing terrorists to come in and sweep up Iraq weapons laying all over the place. Well at least he got the Iraq oil to pay for his war and deaths like he said he would do........Oh wait....didn't do that either did he! Yikes!!! Well at least he got Bin Laden .....Oh that's right Bush didn't because he gave up...Yikes!! Well at least he was prepared when Hurricane Katrina hit new Orleans...oh wait he went to McCain's Birthday party and went campaigning after that....Yikes!!! Well at least he protected the surplus he was handed over to by Clinton...Oh wait, he didn't do that either he caused another great depression with repubs blocking attempts to help the economy recover....Yikes!!!!
Missions not accomplished...the Bush Legacy!
Romney hires Bush advisors because this was so good for our country??? YIKES!!!!! Not again!
Vote Obama/Biden 2012
Satsailing you words are correct yet spoken with justified anger. Bush spent 6-8 billion of our money and took away thousands of lives trying to gain control of their oil---while neglecting their words of indication "We don't want you (americans) here!"
We spent a fortune trying to teach barbarians how to live peacefully but we cannot change a mind set decades and hundreds of years ago. Sure we may not agree with Middle Eastern ways, and we tried and couldn't do so. The time has come whereby we have spent too much attempting to better the middle east when we cannot or some refuse to better this country of freedom, liberty and the right to happiness.
Such values do not and may never exist in the Midddle East---so let it be for WE THE PEOPLE can survive without them or their oil! Yet Cheney may have to lower HIS PERSONAL AGENDA!
Gee, who can believe this country, Iraq, is reverting to terror, murder, religious persecution and prejudice, government fraud and government corruption. You know, the way it was when Saddam Hussein was the "bad guy"! Now, after WE, the United States, spent well over a hundred billions dollars, tens of thousands of injuries and several thousand deaths of our young men and women in our military, and countless hundereds of thousands of dead civilians and destroyed infrastructure, are we seeing the return of absolute ignorance and hatred which has permeated this 'dung-hole' of a country for six thousand years! Sure hope we aren't told they have weapons of mass distruction--AGAIN! WHAT A TOTAL FABRICATION AND WASTE! I suppose we will now have to find another sorry excuse to start another sorry war in some other sorry 'dung-hole' of a country! Did I hear you mention Sudan? That just may be the place......
Al qaida ? there is no such animal,it is the same tribal warlords it has always been. Our government had to give these nuts a name and Al qaida was born. The middle east is not a winnable situation for any body. Leave them and let them continue to live as they chose it is none of our business. 1 in 5 children in the USA do not have access to 3 meals a day,what the hell is our government thinking. My bad I put government and thinking in the same sentence
Leave it to NBC News to completely omit that the Obama Administration released a video praising the President for successfully ending the war in Iraq on the worst day of bloodshed this year. Opps!
NEWSFLASH! We still have thousands of troops in Iraq.
Obama actually is leaving troops in longer than GWB had planned (not that I buy GWB would have stuck to that plan). Obama is not much different than GWB regarding Iraq or Afghanistan. Afghanistan is the new Vietnam now. End both wars now and pull out ALL troops from those countries. We owe that to our troops and their families.
wow we left iraq and the homies started killing each other! iam totally shocked never saw this coming! so much for the draw down. i just hope they stick to killing each other
Poor rightwingie.....your head exploding because fearless Romney just hired Bush advisory overthehillgang of war monger for profit and economy crashers? You liked the lie to war so much you want Romney to do it again with his Bush/Cheney/Rove/Norquist advisors.
Romney has experience on both sides of every issue. Even the repubs say the same thjing. "Everyone should like Romney he has been on both sides of every issue one time or another." Flip Flop.
You like paying the taxes Romney won't pay, how kind of you. Well the rest of us don't like a tax dodger.
You like how Romney outsources jobs and makes a profit from destroying American lives.
How's those offshore accounts working for ya rightie?
Can you put 102 Million in your retirement account yearly when you can only put in $30 K a year?
Romney and rightie for a worse tomorrow today.....Sez me!
Everyday, an Iraq/Afgan war vet commits suicide.........Some of you will vote for Romney who is hiring Ex Bush/Cheney advisers.........Why? Why take advice from people who gave advice to Bush Cheney? When do you make these people culpable for what they have done to America?
Saddams death toll people estimate to be near 2,000,000 people. Considering Iraq is a country of only 20,000,000.
Stalin and Hitler would be proud.
U.S. deaths, injured and MIA in the last 100 years
Democrat wars:WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam --- 1,779,055
Republican wars: Iraq, Afghanistan ------48,433
What price stability? Many make the point that Iraq was "more stable" under Saddam. The same could be said about Blacks during slavery; less black on black violence, fewer hungry black babies, fewer blacks in prison. Life was so much better for them when they had the white master to take care of them. Wasn't it? Oh, for the good old days...NOT!
Starsailing, a higher suicide rate amongst war vets isn't new. It happens after every war. But if you study the demographics of those who actually commit suicide I don't know if we'll really see such a big difference.
Vets who kill themselves, as i understand it, generally come from the combat specific specialties; the grunts. (Not always, but generally.) Who is selected for the grunt jobs? Those who don't qualify for technical jobs or aren't lucky enough to get admin jobs.
There is a correlation between low IQ and suicide according to some studies. My question would be, then, if vets who commit suicide are doing so at a rate higher than their civilian counterparts who are in the same intellectual and socioeconomic status.
Star@1.46 As to taxes, I don't know very many folks who won't take legal deductions or take legal steps to avoid taxes when they can. No one wants to pay more than they have to.
Outsourcing? Hey, thank Bill Clinton for the trade deals with China. They were supposed to do SO much to help us.
Offshore accounts? Prove he did something illegal and I'll be right there with you tying the noose. But putting your money in a tax haven just isn't necessarily illegal and it IS smart!
that comment in obvious reference to AQ and the Taliban and any other idiot blowing/shooting up innocent un armed people who dont want to be in anyone's war (especially that of the crazies) and pointing out the amount of manhood it takes to plant a bomb, unknown to innocent women, children and men, on their way to work, school or church, and possibly never touched a weapon being blown to bits is a sign of a religon, or race?
it's cold blodded murder, and i dont in any way support it, and it is my right to voice. who instigated this war? AQ when they started flying commercial jets into our buildings that supplied jobs to civilians. they were not armed, and nor were the hundreds of thousands of other casualties killed by IED's, and (an underestimated term) religious bullies who as well kill people as an exsample to gain obediance because they round them up so they can witness punishment for some petty crime.... such as being raped.
so more or less tyler i am asking..... is this considered a religion? cause from my pov, and from what i have seen/read, was wondering when this free killing became a religion....
You have to ask yourself what is the point of such barbarism and what exactly does it accomplish.
And what significant changes in their throwback behavior did we accomplish ?
None at all we strengthened the UN and arranged for the murder of our sons and daughters in this cessspool of humanity.
We squandered our national treasure. our military might and fattened the pockets of a few of the scum who infest Congress with their advance knowledge of armament contracts and other war hardware.
Congress has abdicated its war powers to a bogus President. It gave up to bush and it has given up to Obama (if that is his name).
Term limits folks, drug tests, IQ tests (that would eliminate the likes of Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee and that punk from Carolina who in a hearing in the House asked the General if he was concerned about Guam 'tipping over'. He sure was. Do we really want fools like that charting the course of the Nation? Also financial reports and proof of Citizenship... real proof not that bogus paperwork the destroyer has published.
The answer had better be NO!
Bib Al: Good question! Easy answer. It accomplished nothing more than an impending retaliatory bombing, a future headline.
"Stuff Happens."
Sincerely,
Donald Rumsfeld
""Recent attacks are a clear message that al-Qaida in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official"
Sunni Saudi proxies like al-Qaida, Salaffi, Wahhabi MB and other label ones are supposed to be pure Islamic religious people.
They consider other Muslim sect people and non-Muslims as non-believers and jihadi material.
This Ramadan should mean some thing to these pure Islamic religious people.
If they do these things in their holy month, Ramadan what religion, holy, charity, love and peace are they talking?
Are these people humans or some mad religious Nazi beasts?
Big Al...I think the point is that Iran wishes to take the ME and let it burn. AJ and the Mullahs in Iran who are now helping to finance al-Queda wish to control the ME and challenge the King in Saudi. It really is a very simple answer.
Iran was held at bay while US troops were in Iraq. We announced the with-drawl with enough warning that Iran could arrange a strong attack actoss many borders. Obama offered the Support of America in the downfall of Egypt and Libya and who truly knows what support we have offered the Syrians. Obama had US forces invade an allied nation and then insult to injury announced his incursion to the world. The idea that the Arab spring had anything to do with democracy is just a joke that the propoganda machine from the west wing propogated to get the American public to buy into some fantasy that America was supporting something right and good. The whole downfall of the ME was carefully orchestrated by Iran, zealots and well al Queda. With what appears to be the help of the US Government.
So for you folks getting in your digs on Bush and Cheney and well the Congress that supported going into Afghanistan and Iraq are we really on the right side of history now? Has this President done anything to promote peace or Independence around the world? Oa and his administration has done everything in their power to promote the Middle East to burn. They have done everything in their power to promote a global crisis and have sat back almost four year into their term still blaming the privious administration and laughing at those Americans who buy into their determination to deminish America' reputation and influence around the world.
Umm no. All Bush did when he got rid of Saddam was make the Iranians stronger and be in control on Iraq too. Shia Muslims are the majority in Iraq just like Iran. Now Iran has no one to fear in Iraq like they did with Saddam.
ahh yes, the saint saddam.
I bet you miss your hero, jammers. Still have a pic of him on the ceiling above your bed?
It's a religious based society what did you expect? Violence to control the masses and constant brainwashing from birth to control how they think
cooch-1922964
You probably believe if religion was simply eliminated, humans wouldn't have a reason to be violent. A very sad, ignorant and simplistic point of view. Power, money, corruption, sex, etc. all influence our society and are at the root of much of the violence we see today. Violence in society, whether its the centuries old fighting going on in the Middle East or a crazed gunman opening fire on innocent movie patrons, cannot be explained in a sentence or be a cause of just one factor. Religion is just a scapegoat and you fall for it every single time.
Triple......simply...Nope....religion is about control and always one of the major causes of death and violence. There are no scapegoats left......they have all been sacrificed to booga booga!
workingpoor is right. The whole ME is a cesspool of sh!bags. Hopefully it happens more often and exponentially grows in body count.
America what a waste of time, money and soldiers on this cesspool. It no different that before we went in to get Sadaam.....These idiots have been killing each other for thousands of years and will continue for thousands more..........Leave them to their misery. Barbarians the lot.
Thank God we're no longer there.
You are right.
Due to Iraqi wars and high oil price manipulations by the Saudis & co oil companies and now sanctions on Iranian oil, bankers, economists and financial experts have new terms like "ring around Greece", "ring around Spain", about to have "ring around Italy" and so on.
So you people are talking of ring around Iraq. Let us extend this "ring around" business to whole of ME.
So we have no business to do dirty jobs for Saudis in Syria, Iran and other places.
Let the sanctions on Iranian oil be removed and let the oil prices fall flat.
This is the easiest way to start putting rings around ME Muslim nations.
As a first step, let us start our ring around all the Sunni Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia and co.
To Mr. Binkie --We are still there neighbor, and I have the Son/Soldier to prove it.
To All the Bush, Cheny, and Rumsfeld bashers, were you there??? do you absolutely know what you are talking about??? there were WMDs and unless you were there don't arm chair quarterback the game.
To Balls to the wall??? What point are you trying to make Bush has not been POTUS for 31/2 yrs. and my life style has went down hill all of that time under the present suedo-leader and his tax evading cabinet.
I hope all you folks can see past what you can't do anything about and help get this country back.
Why hasn't someone tried to blame Bush for Viet-Nam----talk about a useless war!!!!!
Azlandowner - What WMD's were there? I know a majority of Republicans believe that. But that is just not true. Bush admin cherry picked the intel that fit their requirements to invade Iraq. It was all wrong. Would you be so understanding if the current POTUS started a war cherry picking intel? Blaming the current POTUS for your own failures to thrive is just pathetic but just par for the course for sniveling cornservatives!
Azland....Mn was last troops out. They shut off the lights. There was/is no WMD's......Bush agreed. Powell agreed it was made up, old false intel used to beat the drums of war.
Bush was AWOL during Viet Nam, he just walked out and went campaigning.
LBJ had negotiated peace between North and South Viet Nam and China in 1968. Nixon heard about it and sent envoy to convince South V.N. not to sign as he would get them better deal if elected. Nixon lied to nation day before election and said he had a secret plan to end the war. People elected Nixon beause of that statement. Nixon blew up the peace agreement and the war continued and killed several of my best friends. Ref LBJ/Sen Dirksen tapes online.
@amused. Take it from one who was over there. Casey Hendrickson:
Clint Eastwood - Change your fake moniker to something more believable like Mr. Gullible. Took your advice checked up on Casey H, what a convoluted mishmash of could be, possibly and might be bull crap! Still no WMD's. Just deception, inference's and lies, in other words the gold standard of Repugnants. Swallow that crap if you want to but I thought Repugs hated to have anything shoved down their throats. Gullible and stupid wrapped in pretty paper and bows is still @!$%#e. And that @!$%#e stinks to high heaven!
"Bombs targeting homes, emergency workers kill scores near Baghdad"
This headline was quite deceiving as written. According to the article, shouldn't it have said they were killed?
Thanks for fixing it.
Anyone who knew the history of this and other countries in the Middle East should have known that, once the U.S. left, this is what was going to happen. What a stupid war. All we created was misery and enemies here and abroad. Are we ever going to grow up??
@AhmedReza & @workingpoor... Had we stayed out of Iraq I would have agreed with you. Believe it or not we can also chalk up this quagmire to Bush and Chaney. If we did not go there in the first place Saddam would have been alive today. If Saddam was alive he would have been our pawn to keep the Iranians in check...Is the world a better place without Saddam......Is The people of Iraq living in a better society ..SFC LLoyd C. Johnson US Army Retired
@Lloyd, I was saying the same thing back when the Bush/Chaney propaganda machine was working. I have a couple of friends that discuss things with out beating each other up over the topic. It took them til a year ago to agree with me that we could have used Saddam as a Puppet, and for free at no expense. By going there we opened up a very large can of worms. What the people don't, can't, or won't realize is the President that came into office, no matter who it was, had it land in his lap.
LCJ: I total agree with you...We wouldn't have the Iranian problem today if Saddam was still alive....How did the American people get sucked into this BS....Hmmmm..Milltary complex owning the Pollitains
Hi 6dogs..........I remember watching media and a couple reporters started to report that info was old false intel info being used, REPUBLICANS SCREAMED EVERYONE WAS UNPATRIOTIC IF THEY said anything against it! Overnight the media became spectator sport watchers instead of persuing the trail.
6dogs....I enjoy reading your posts too!....However, for some reason when I read your posts, my brain reads it in Mater's voice!!!!!!! Go figure!!!
Obama/Biden 2012!
Wasn't it worth the death of thousands of Americans and nearly bankrupting the American economy to give the people of Iraq their "Freedom" ? Some people need a ruthless dictator because they are too damned stupid to govern themselves.
it is never worth it when one human life is lost too ignorance!
SEMPER FI
DANNY P
RETIRED
Sure did a lot of good there, didn't we. While our own country is going broke, we spent Billions on that wasted War, and lost thousands of lives...for what?
Our leaders are a joke!! Hey, here's a great idea...let's vote them back into office again since they are doing such a wonderful job.
Hey Mark, we already have voted them back into office. After all, it was the Congress (including Democrats) that sanctioned the Iraq War, relying on the same faulty information that the Bush Administration did. Of course, this was all a Republican debacle, wasn't it!! Internal wars, whether you call them civil wars, insurgencies, or something else) are a way of life around the world, not just Iraq. Can you say Colombia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sudan, to name only a few. It's the way of the future -- get used to it!!
There were only a hand full of administration officials, that had the REAL intel! They then LIED to BOTH parties!
CME mgmt - Yes sirree! It was a Republican debacle! The faulty intel was knowingly used by W to go to war. Only the decider can do that, authorization by Congress is just that authorization. W didn't ask Congress to declare war, he took it upon himself and its all on him. And yes, sadly he was voted back in. Double stupid by those who voted for him, double fools!
Hi Mark....Unfortunatly that is exactly what Romney is doing. He has hired numerous staff from Bush Cheney, foreign affairs, economic ....what the hell would anybody for that group of crazies back into office. I yeah, now I remember...$$$$$$$$$$$
CME....You got it wrong, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeldt, Rove and staff deliberately used false old intel to lie the nation into war. They knew it was false.......they deliberatle lied....Pelosi screwed up..she should have prosecuted those thugs for lying our nation into war.
Vote Obama/Biden 2012
Roadkill. I remember when the CIA lied to Nancy Pelosi and the media ignored the story.
I think John Kerry was lied to by somebody at sometime too.
What a tragedy for the Iraqi people, most of who just want to live their lives in peace - as do we all. This horrendous act typifies the hypocrisy of Islam. It's OK for Muslims to kill other Muslims during the holy period of Ramadan yet at the same time, non-Muslims must walk on eggshells to not offend the Muslim populace.
Golly-gee, and who woulda thunk this would ever happen? Damn George Bush!
Iraqis didn't want us there, be careful what you wish for.
Hussein was a horrible man however kept his country in check. This is all George Bush's doing. So we all knew once we took out Husseins army all that was left is Sunnis and Shiats who hate each other. There will be many more days like this. I'm just happy our troops our out of there.
The problem is in the middle east is you have various sects of Islam and they all distrust each other because often if given a chance they will try to eradicate each other. Look at Syria were the Sunni Muslims are mostly behind the uprising. Assad belongs to a small minority of Muslims known as Alawite and they tend to be more tolerant of Shia Islam than the majority Sunni Islam. Al Qaeda is composed of Sunni Muslims and they have been a huge destabilizing factor in the middle east and were behind the fall of Somalia in the 1990's. The so called Arab spring is not the oppressed yearning to be free but is more of power struggle between the sects of Islam trying to seize power,
Had Iraq's new goverment gained a solid footing and grown to influence citizens in every aspect of life, then the Sunni & Shia would look like Congress.
All that death by an enemy that we have defeated. We did defeat them didn't we or why else would we be be leaving? The opposition in this civil war is still perfectly capable of striking anywhere and anytime. But our mission is over and we are taking our toys and leaving just like we did in Vietnam. The entire middle east will be this way. We leave Afghanistan in 2014 and the insurgents will be free to do whatever they want. We are fighting all of these people with the permission or approval of the governments there. Let them fight their own wars. They will have to after 2014 or fall like Saigon.
Wade...the last troops to come out from Mn said they were leaving the toys there for Iraq! Too costly to bring home.
Leave the entire region ASAP! One big s##thole. Let it be know to ALL Muslim countries that think they want to dominate the world and FORCE their twisted beliefs upon others; next 9-11...we take gloves off/go high tech/ and rain hellfire from the heavens. Don't even talk about collateral damage...next group of innocents die by one of your f##ked-up jihadists...we do the same only on a grand scale. Every square inch of your country incinerated.
GET OUT OF THERE!
The Beev, who would you blame if we "get out of there" and have another 9/11 attack?
Hap....just like the 9-11 debacle...when the dust settled we find out that the majority of perpetrators of such a hideous act came from Saudi Arabia... so be it. When it is established who did what and came from where (what country sponsored such evil deeds)...welcome to your nightmare.
A nightmare it is. I mean, the US terrorists that are killing us in theaters.
How many lives and billions did we spend in Iraq?
No peace, and we are bankrupt
Thank you Bush, great vision
It is sad when you read such a news story and, because you've heard so much of the same over the past 10 years, you just don't give a sh1t anymore.
Troy
Very sad. Ever since we fought to free ourselves from a strong & distant government, our record of replacing leaders with "favorable" regimes is abyssmal.
Very sad indeed, but the good news is that no young (or older) US personnel are in that tally.
@Troy : Past 10 years? Past 50? How about past 2000.
I hate being right all the time, but I said it the day War Criminal W. first uttered the words "shawq and awww" - as soon as we leave the country they'll go right back to killing each other off.
It's what they know. It's what they want. It's who they are.
The middle east reminds me of the old tale of the fox and scorpion.
I was talking about our involvement there.
And you're right. The folks/beliefs in the Middle East are the prime example of "the more things change, the more they stay the same," and "the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get a different result."
Now if only such simple logic were not lost upon our Congress....
This isn't really "news" any more. Also, I couldn't really care less. Let them kill each other.
I second that. We need to pull out of the Middle East.
Charles Darwin: If you're stupid enough to blow yourselves up, so be it. BUH BYE.
They are savages, pure and simple. But...some of the most beautiful women in the world, we need to ship all the women here first.
You Americans are the savages. Your country started the civil by invading the country in 2003 and throwing it into chaos Einstein. American knownothings are the world's biggest problem.
They've been killing each other wholesale for thousands of years and will continue to do so for a few thousand more. The American invasion was the probably the second longest stretch of peace behind the Saddam regime.
Who cares, I'd rather they be killing themselves over there than here. At this rate in 50 years maybe all of them will be gone, now we just need the rest of these Middle East countries to join in on the carnage and the world will be much more peaceful in about 100 years.
Iraq, start exporting your way of life to the rest of your Arab friends.
Hardlyaman- You are an American sociopathic savage. Your gov't's exported violence and proxy dictators have wrecked countries for generations. You should be defeated at every turn.
Bush 43 tried to do what he said he would do. Many people did not like him but if you clear away the rhetoric and look at the facts, he did try. The biggest failure of the Bush 43 administration to me was the fact that he thought that he could bring American style democracy to Iraq and the people would love us for it. This was not the case in Iraq or any other arab country in the middle east. Middle easterners are very different from westerners and that will always be true. I know that is over simplified but there is no other way of saying it. I do not think we will be successful in the middle east because the cultural gap is too far to bridge. Americans do not understand how millions of people don't watch the Kardashians and drink mocachino's while face booking their every move. I don't know if we are way too far from them or they are way too far from us but the fact still remains that we are two very different cultures. We are going to see a "molding and shaping" of the government in Iraq just like you will see here in the USA. The biggest changes in the USA happened in 2008/2010 with voting our conscience and surprising politicians. Iraq will shape their government by voting a little but killing people will be its main medium for change. This is the part of culture where we are very different, so be it. Iraq needs to be left to its own devices and come what may. I know people would say that "we need to be involved" but the fact of the matter is they do not like us and I think leaving them alone is our best option. Lets go back to the days of when the average Afghanistan poppy farmer doesn't know about us Americans and doesn't care either, those truly were the days.
No, Bubba, Bush was a total moron who big business and special interests could use as a puppet to get what they wanted. HE grew government by 60% in 8 years, EXPLODED the Dept of Education, gave us the Medicare Presc. Drug Act, Grew the GSA by 600% in the last 4 years of his term, and what was his order to the American people to aid the economy? Spend Spend Spend!!! Bush ranks right up there with Jimmy Carter. Oh, and one little fact: The net job gain in the private sector with Bush in 8 years? Try a NEGATIVE 250,000.
Wow, I guess me assuming that my comments were strictly about Iraq, what we were doing there and the projected outcome would be obvious but I was wrong. The liberal talking points and freaky skewed math is cute but thats not what the topic was about. Typical liberal "we are so much smarter than conservatives" mentality that you liberal pseudo intellectuals think you possess baffles me to no end. It helped John Kerry out in 2004. Remember, Bush 43 was president for 8 years and had a gigantic crisis on his hands that he did not want but people like you think that he started the whole thing just to get what he wanted. If the latter is the case, he is far from being a moron as you suggested. My final point is this, for what Bush was dealt, he did okay compared to what I think would have been the outcome of the last three democrat presidents (Carter, Clinton & Obama). Carter screwed up Iran and Reagan fixed it. Clinton ignored terrorists hoping they would go away and it just got worse and Obama did what Bush was doing and didn't change a thing.
So, tell me, what did either Bush do positive? Oh and Dumbya gave us Homeland Secutiry and the TSA program, what a WINNER!!! His daddy lied about tax increases, passed the ADA, etc. Ask any physician and they will tell you how bad he screwed them with record keeping regulations. I am not liberal, I like Ron Paul as he is the only candidate who will tell the truth. Morons continue to vote in the status quo. I am going third party again. Oh and I am sure most sheep will follow Romney. But which Romney will you get? The prochoice, anti gun, pro gay union Romney or the other version. Get your Etch-A-Sketch ready!
Mission accomplished!! you jesus freaks!! you are going to blame this on Obama too right? did you find the weapons of mass destruction yet???. Thanks for taking away our freedoms with your patriot act! for destroying our economy! and for outsourcing American jobs elsewhere! I'm sure your friends the Taliban, a creation of Ronald Reagan, will be very happy.
The patriot act was passed by a GOP congress and senate?
Who knew?
Wow, Dumbya Bush really hit it on the head...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I am no liberal or obama supporter, but Bush needs to spend the rest of his days writing personal apology letters to each and every American for starting this war and destabilizing the middle east. Great job DUMBYA!! And your old dad was just as much a piece of crap!
Well Mr Bush....I guess your "Democracy" ain't working so well for these poor buggers is it?
Equis, in case you've been asleep somewhere, Bush hasn't been President for almost 4 years now. If Obama wanted to end the war then why didn't HE? The only mistake George W made was not taking one good bomb and dropping it. We need another Harry Truman who isn't scared to death to do the right thing. The only way to deal with a rabid animal is to KILL IT! That's exactly what they are. If they actually put that much effort into getting a job, trying to clean up the cesspool they live in, worry about supporting their families, think about building a better life for their kids, and stop living in the 12th century, they would find it takes a lot more courage to do that than strap a friggin' bomb on themselves and go blow up people. Funny how you don't see any of their leaders doing that do you? If it's such a great thing maybe they should be the first ones to try it.
I agree amerigal. But Bush tried to "understand and appease" the muslims. He even went so far as to have muslim prayer in the White House, a first. Bush was so bad that people(not me) were so sick of him that they voted for any kind of change and that gave birth to obama. Islam is a religion of hate. Dont believe it? Look how they treat their women..like dogs. Even "nice" Saudi Arabia performs female circumcision on 80% of their women. If they act like dogs, treat them as such. But instead, obama bows to them.
One thing for sure just happened, Romney hired numerous Bush/Cheney staff...........NOT AGAIN!!!
Vote Obama/Biden 2012