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Hey, I thought Emperor Obama told us we won that silly war in Iraq???
And while we are talking about this I thought we invaded Iraq because we found OUR oil in THEIR soil. President Obama where is that 25 cent gallon of gas Emperor Bush promised us when he invaded Iraq???? Don't worry I'm just joking. Violence surge spurs fear for Iraq's stability by Lara Jakes - Jun. 30, 2012 08:12 PM Associated Press BAGHDAD - A half year after the U.S. military left Iraq, dire predictions seem to be coming true: The country is mired in violence and the government is on the verge of collapsing. With no relief in sight, there's growing talk of Iraq as a failed state as al-Qaida's local wing staged near daily attacks that killed at least 234 people in June. Iraq no longer suffers widespread retaliatory killings between Sunni and Shiite extremists that brought the country to the brink of civil war. But the spike in violence heightens fears that Iraq could limp along for years as an unstable and dangerous country. June was the second-deadliest month since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in mid-December as insurgents exploited the political struggles between the country's ethnic and sectarian factions. More significant than the numbers was the fact that insurgents appeared able to sustain the level of violence over a longer period than usual. There was a major deadly bombing or shooting rampage almost every three days, many targeting Shiite pilgrims. The violence has brought the weakness of Iraq's security apparatus into sharp focus even as deepening political divisions dim the prospects that the country will emerge as a stable democracy after decades of war and dictatorship. "The state is almost paralyzed and dysfunctional due to political feuds. In such circumstances, the security forces also will be paralyzed and the insurgents groups are making use of this chaos," Haider al-Saadi, the Shiite owner of internet cafe in eastern Baghdad, said Saturday. "I do not think that al-Qaida is getting any stronger -- it is the state that is getting weaker." The situation deteriorated shortly after American troops left Iraq on Dec. 18, following failed negotiations to stay beyond a year-end withdrawal deadline that was cemented in a 2008 security agreement. The next day Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government issued terror charges against Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's highest-ranking Sunnis, who fled Baghdad and remains on the lam. Sunni lawmakers briefly boycotted parliament and al-Maliki's cabinet in protest. By spring, leaders of the self-ruled Kurdish northern region joined the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya political coalition against al-Maliki, whom they accused of refusing to share power. And last week, in the first major defection by an influential Shiite leader, anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said he would direct his followers to join efforts to oust al-Maliki if a power-sharing agreement is not reached. Al-Maliki, who won a second term in 2010, followed with a threat to call for early elections that would dissolve parliament if government infighting does not stop. In calling for an early election, al-Maliki is betting he would win with enough widespread support to gain undisputed power. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh agreed Saturday that the political crisis has fueled June's violence surge. Violence has been steady across Iraq so far this year, but the levels of attacks in June soared beyond the occasional, if spectacular, wave of bombings that is al-Qaida's usual pattern. Victims mostly have been Shiite pilgrims, government officials and security forces.
Bombs kill 4, judge shot as Iraq attacks grind on BAGHDAD (AP) – Bombers killed four people in two Iraqi cities and gunmen assassinated a judge, officials said Sunday, as al-Qaeda's affiliate ramped up attacks six months after the last U.S. troops withdrew. Three coordinated bomb attacks within minutes of each other Sunday morning hit the central city of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, a provincial official said. A civilian walking by was killed and two others were wounded. The bombs went off near a middle school where students were taking exams, but authorities said none of the students was hurt. Further south, three policemen died when a suicide car bomb and three roadside bombs exploded at a security checkpoint on Saturday night in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, a police official said. The bombing Saturday night raised the death toll for June to at least 237, the second-bloodiest month since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in mid-December. In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed criminal court judge Abdul-Latif Mohammed in a drive-by shooting as he was returning home from work, police said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Government officials and security forces are among the chief targets of al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, who experts say have been emboldened by political feuding that has paralyzed the government and are hoping to reignite fighting among the country's ethnic and sectarian factions. More significant than the numbers was the fact that insurgents appeared able to sustain the level of violence over a longer period than before. There was a major bombing or shooting rampage almost every three days in June, many targeting Shiite pilgrims on their way to the annual Baghdad commemoration of a revered imam. Shiites are also often targeted by the extremist Sunni insurgency. Another Shiite pilgrimage set for this week has security forces on high alert. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected to travel to the holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, for the festival of Shabaniyah, celebrating the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam. The pilgrimage peaks on Friday. |