Wave of violence in Iraq kills at least 151

Al-Zarqawi's group apparently claims responsibility via Web

 

Wednesday, September 14, 2005; Posted: 11:33 a.m. EDT (15:33 GMT)

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A wave of suicide bombings and other attacks rocked central Iraq Wednesday, killing at least 151 people and wounding more than 300, police said.

 

Al Qaeda in Iraq, a group led by militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, apparently has said it is responsible, saying the attacks are in retaliation for the U.S.-Iraqi military offensive in the northern city of Tal Afar. U.S. and Iraqi forces launched the operation last month to root out insurgents in the border city near Syria.

 

The claim was made on a Web site the group frequently uses, but CNN could not verify the authenticity of the posting.

 

In one of the biggest strikes, at least one suicide car bomb exploded near a gathering of laborers in Kadhimiya -- a Shiite area of north-central Baghdad. At least 112 people have been killed and another 200 wounded, emergency police said.

 

Later Wednesday, a suicide car bomber targeted shoppers in a busy Shiite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 22 others.

 

In Taji, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Baghdad, men wearing Iraqi army uniforms stormed homes and shot 17 Shiite men execution-style, police said.

 

Iraqi army convoys and a checkpoint also were targeted Wednesday.

 

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a suicide car bombing in western Baghdad.

 

Two police and three others were killed in a drive-by shooting. A suicide car bomb struck police investigating the incident, injuring four police officers.

 

Three Iraqi soldiers and one civilian also were killed and 25 civilians wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded in central Baghdad near an Iraqi army base at al Muthanna airfield, police said. A firefight immediately followed the bombing.

 

In addition, six American convoys and targets suffered attacks, and five U.S. soldiers were wounded.

 

Gunmen also assassinated a leader of a powerful Shiite tribe Wednesday near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, his family said. Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Aboud Al-Ambagi, one of the leaders of Al-Ambagiye, and his nephew were killed.

Draft constitution goes to U.N.

 

Amid the latest wave of violence, Iraq's constitutional committee submitted to the United Nations on Wednesday its final amended version of the country's draft constitution, scheduled for a nationwide referendum next month.

 

"We have finalized all ... amendments related to the draft of the Iraqi permanent constitution, which will be put forward to the Iraqi people on October 15 in a general and free referendum to say their final word whether they accept the constitution," said Hussein Shahristani, deputy speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly.

 

The United Nations will print 5 million copies of the document for public distribution ahead of the vote.

 

Sunni Arabs dislike some aspects of the document, which has support from Shiite Arabs and Kurds in the transitional government.

 

Negotiators finalized a number of amendments on Wednesday, including language that designated Iraq as "a multi-ethnic, religious and denominational country" that is a "part of the Islamic world."

 

On Tuesday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani praised the constitution after meeting with President Bush at the White House.

 

"Of course, it is not a perfect document. But I think it is one of the best constitutions in the Middle East," Talabani said. (Full story)

 

CNN's Arwa Damon, Enes Dulami, Caroline Faraj, Kevin Flower and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

What a disaster...

This story put the Iraq war back into the front page of headlines, from what I can tell.

sigh, and now all the monday morning quarterbacks are going to sit here saying how we need to pull out when that is the absolute worst possible thing we could do.

 

According to the article, it was Al Qaeda. I've said it a hundred times, Iraq has become the front lines in the war on terrorism. Would you rather be fighting Al Qaeda on the streets of Baghdad and Tikrit or on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, and Miami?

Wanna know why Baghdad and Tikrit are the front lines? BECAUSE WE CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR THAT!!!!

 

Oh, and do you think the people of that area appreciate us doing that? Was that the "noble cause" for going into Iraq, to create a magnet for killing people? To use the Iraqis as pawns? And don't you go off on me on Afghanistan, b/c we all know the Taliban rather than the US created the conditions there. At least I'm smart enough to know that that should be the real "front lines."

I'm sincerely going to miss every last one of them.

"The insurgency is in its' final throes" - Dick Cheney

"The insurgency is in its' final throes" - Dick Cheney

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That's a misquote; Dick Cheney is smart enough to not misuse apostrophes.

"The insurgency is in its' final throes" - Dick Cheney

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That's a misquote; Dick Cheney is smart enough to not misuse apostrophes.

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But too dumb/dishonest to assess the situation in Iraq?

Wanna know why Baghdad and Tikrit are the front lines? BECAUSE WE CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR THAT!!!!

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Thank you. I almost want to vomit every time I hear some conservative defending the Iraq war by saying, "If we fight them over here, we won't have to fight them in our streets."

 

I'm sorry, but you have to be pretty narrow-minded to believe that propaganda.