Dozens Die In Iraq Bombings During Gates Visit

Twin car bombs targeted a meeting of U.S.-allied Sunni tribal leaders Monday in Baghdad, killing at least 22 civilians and wounding 42, Iraqi officials said.

A dense cloud of black smoke filled the air as firefighters hosed down dozens of charred vehicles, with flames shooting out of the back of one pickup truck...

...The arrests and violence came a day after car bombs and gunmen struck new U.S. allies, police and civilians in northern Iraq, killing as many as 53 people in a spasm of violence that coincided with a visit by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Iraq.

Gates on Monday offered his first endorsement for the idea of pausing the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq this summer, which some fear could result in giving up some of the security gains of recent months.

The deadliest of Sunday's attacks was near Balad, where Iraqi police and hospital officials said a suicide trucker killed 34 people near a checkpoint manned jointly by Iraqi police and U.S.-backed security volunteers. The American military, however, put the death toll at 23.

Read entire article here.

Comments

[mikeeforthetruth]

In this Administration- the R’s (and I don’t mean Republicans) are trying to destroy our (human) way of life.

The time to fight for freedom is the time when freedom is threatened, not the time freedom is destroyed, and for that later time is too late. Freedom is threatened now. The destruction of freedom is not far off. Now is the time to fight.
John Whiteside Parsons

MWiz of- truthseeke­rforum.com

[StillAmused]

Guess that "pause" is a no-brainer, eh, Bobby?

[Cunningham]

Look for more violence to come. The deal with Al Sadr is due to expire within the next couple of weeks.

The escalation is NOT working.

[doinaheckofajob]

Once upon a time America was a great country that stood up for the wrongs in the world. Today America is what is wrong with the world. And we have GWB and the neocons to thank for that.

[doinaheckofajob]

As Caeser and his band of oil mercenaries continue their charade of terrorists are the only problem on the planet worth pouring 1 trillion USD the 5000 or so bad guys celebrate the downfall of the American Empire. Neocons are so good at taking out the US in the name of politics and rhetoric eh?

[fatmo]

The success of the surge is a mirage. If in an area in the US there is alot of crime so that the police send in dozens of extra cops you will see a big drop in crime. With cops every block at all times ,sure crime will drop. But once the cops leave the criminals are still there and will probably return. This is the same with the surge.

[wayoutleft]

the "surge" is basically an endless parade of tv grandpas in kevlar undies riding around in a circle somewhere guarded by about half the army and all the marines. gates is another one of these shills, mccain is another, then there was bremer way back. these people don't matter. they just try to talk their goulish death scenarios past doddering congressmen who get scared of anything. i just wish hillary would realize that are smeared all over her and she stinks of them. and that's why she is losing. about two minutes after her inauguration (never happen, thankfully) she would turn her back on all true democrats and go over there to cackle with these incompetent boobs and about 20,000 of the blackwater scum it will take to guard her. obama would take a little longer to get there and debase himself before the fascist war machine that he swears now to dismantle. this is what will actually happen if democrats win. they will turn tail on all the unions, students, and volunteers and immediately go stick their noses in the troops' posteriors. that's what you'll get for voting democrat: a troop brown noser either way. obama's voted to fund these guys every time.

[Counterglow]

Gotta love those whacky Iraqis. Always a little something special for when a really, really important representative of their beloved liberators drops in for a visit.

[missionimpossible]

The bribes aren't working. The surge was only working to complement the bribe money so as to incur favorable political points here in US during an election year. I guess somebody got ticked off that he wasn't receiving his fair share of the bribe money.
Pres.Bush, can we ask Exxon Mobile to help us out here?

[watchingthings]

What's the matter with the Iraqis? Can't they tell the difference between explosives and flowers? They're supposed to shower these guys with flowers when they come to belittle them.

[VivaZapata]

When violence is up, the administration tell us we can't leave Iraq in a mess. When violence is down, they tell us we can't leave because the surge is working. In other words, we can't leave, or in Emperor McCain's words, "make it a hundred (years)."

[loki]

Those were not Bombs, according to Gates and the Bush administration. This was the Iraqi people showing their appreciation for everything Bush has done for them. It was only a very elaborate fire works display. Unfortunately , the media didnt show the thousands of Iraqi citizens dancing in the streets with American flags , changing Bush is our savior , God Bless America!

See, this is more spin from the anti war folks. They just hate America and hate our Troops.

*note: for those who can not tell , the above post is a form of comedy called : Sarcasm.
No American Citizen that I know hates America or the troops. In fact, it is the complete opposite. This is why they are so vocal and fight so hard to change what is wrong with the US and show how much they hate our current 'deciders' in our Government and the corporations who control them. *

[groucho]

Can't anyone in this government get noisy and get this shit over? We can't wait until January, there are families being devastated everyday. For what?

[Not Blind]

It seems the Iraqis aren't too impressed with Robert Gates' visit to their country, or they have an odd way of showing it.
Wasn't is the PNAC and AIPAC who prompted Dubya and his administration to concoct 935 LIES to get us into Iraq? Wasn't it Dubya who requested grotesque funding to continue an illegal and immoral invasion of another soveriegn nation based upon lies? Wasn't it Dubya who declared mission accomplished nearly 2000 days ago? Wasn't it Congress who kept giving Dubya blank checks? Wasn't it Dubya who asked for advanced funding for the surge, that met only 3 of the 18 benchmarks he and his administration set for Iraq? Wasn't it Dubya who pimped Patreaus who gave Congress skewed statistics about casualties of war? Isn't it Dubya, Vader, and their cronies who are the only ones profiting from this endeavor? Isn't it Dubya, Vader and their co-conspirators in the NSA, CIA, and private contractors in Iraq who have subverted our Constitution, corrupted the MSM, committed treason, perjury, torture and murder? Wasn't is Rumsfeld who authoritzed and condoned torture, gave orders at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and other secret locations world-wide? Isn't it Blackwater mercenaries who committed murder, and were grantede immunity by the State Dept. under Rice? With so many abuses, lies, unkept promises, corruption, greed, and crimes against humanity, one wonders how and why these THUGS are still in office, let alone not convicted and imprisoned!
We've got Nsnvy Pelosi, Harry Reid, DiFi, and Schumer to thank for allowing this to continue unabated, unchallenged, and unquestioned.
Clinton only got a blow job from an intern, which didn't cost one American life, yet Bush & Co. have sodomoized this nation, raped & pillaged its treasury, subverted and restricted the Constitutional liberties of its citizens, cost the lives of hundreds of thousands Iraqis, 4000 Americans, committed treason and subjected billions of people to an unsafe environment, crumbling infrastructure, and uncertain ir not perilous economic future so the Israelis and the oil companies can profit.

[peterg76]

It's almost as if the mission was less than accomplished.