The Hollywood Liberal

Bomber strikes Baghdad college; 41 dead

AP
Excerpt:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A suicide bomber triggered a ball bearing-packed charge Sunday, killing at least 41 people at a mostly Shiite college whose main gate was left littered with blood-soaked student notebooks and papers amid the bodies.

Witnesses said a woman carried out the attack at the business school annex to Mustansiriyah University, but Interior Ministry officials said it was investigating the reports. The school’s main campus was hit by a string of bombings last month that killed 70 people.

The attack came as a powerful Shiite militia leader bitterly complained that “car bombs continue to explode” despite an ongoing security crackdown in Baghdad and suggested he was rethinking his cooperation.

Truck blast kills 35 at Iraqi mosque

AP
Excerpt:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A truck exploded Saturday as worshippers left a Sunni mosque west of Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 60 in an apparent sign of increased internal Sunni battles between insurgents and those opposing them.

The imam of the mosque in Habbaniyah, about 50 miles west of Baghdad, had spoken out against militants fighting the U.S.-backed government, including the group al-Qaida in Iraq.

At least 35 people were killed and 62 injured, said Lt. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed in Habbaniyah, which lies between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah — both hotbeds of the insurgency.

Former U.N. envoy supports Iraq pullout

AP
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON – President Bush should follow British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s lead and start withdrawing troops from Iraq, former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said Saturday.

“Engaging in a broad-based diplomatic offensive, and beginning a redeployment of U.S. forces in Iraq, represents the best way to secure America’s interests in the region and combat the serious threat of terrorist networks,” Holbrooke, who served under President Clinton, said in the Democrats’ weekly radio address.

Americans underestimate Iraqi death toll

AP
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON – Americans are keenly aware of how many U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. But they woefully underestimate the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed

Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated at more than 54,000 and could be much higher; some unofficial estimates range into the hundreds of thousands. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports more than 34,000 deaths in 2006 alone.

Among those polled for the AP survey, however, the median estimate of Iraqi deaths was 9,890.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 2:49 pm and is filed under H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.