Violence in Iraq spinning out of control

[sabra]

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/15066392.htm

Violence in Iraq spinning out of control

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Sunni driver lures Shiites into a van by promising jobs - then blows it up, killing 53 people. Sunni gunmen spray bullets and grenades at shoppers, not caring that they include women and children. Shiite death squads roam Baghdad streets, singling out and slaughtering Sunnis.

The new unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds was supposed to bring Iraqis together. Instead, sectarian bloodletting is spiraling out of control.

In the last two days alone, more than 120 people were killed in two spectacular examples of Sunni-Shiite violence - 53 in the suicide van bombing Tuesday in Kufa and 50 in the massacre Monday in the market in Mahmoudiya.

...

Nearly every day, police find corpses in Baghdad streets and vacant lots, victims of death squads that hunt down members of the rival sect. The bodies often show signs of horrific torture, including holes drilled into their eyes or skulls.

[High Plains]

1. Is this what Israel has in mind for Lebanon?

[stop the bleeding]

2. the local hospitals in the area are running out of blood

once this happens - well it wont be good, but I am sure we will get "Iraq has turned the corner" speech.

[msongs]

3. all because of george w bush and the US congress : - ( nt

[dbt]

4. With more than a little help from ABCCBSCNNNBCFox and

Perky Ms Couric gushing "Navy SEALs rock!"

:argh:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[GOTV]

7. And the ~50% of US voters...

... that supported them.

[uppityperson]

5. k&r to make sure we don't just focus on Israel/Lebanon

End the occupation now. I am glad everytime something like this gets out on the news because as long as it is happening, people should know about it. Right now Israel/Lebanon is overshadowing Iraq, but I am trying to watch it all.

[JuniperLea]

6. Me too... K&R n/t

[rodeodance]

9. k

[rodeodance]

8. anyone tell Bushco?

[VegasWolf]

10. When was it ever IN control? Oh yeah, under Saddam. nt

[Tin Man]

11. Maybe Sadam will be acquitted & we can just reinstall him into power

...and I'm almost serious. Just about anything would be better for Iraqis than the anarchic hell life has become under the US fomented "democratic transformation"

[toopers]

12. I vote for more controlled violence!

[IndianaGreen]

13. Civil war spreads across Iraq as bomb at Shia mosque kills 59

Civil war spreads across Iraq as bomb at Shia mosque kills 59
By Patrick Cockburn in Iraq
Published: 19 July 2006

A civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims is spreading rapidly through central Iraq, with each community seeking revenge for the latest massacre. Yesterday a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives blew himself up outside the golden-domed mosque in Kufa, killing at least 59 and injuring more than 130 Shia.

In the past 10 days, while the world has been absorbed by the war in Lebanon, sectarian massacres have started to take place on an almost daily basis, leading observers to fear a level of killing approaching that of Rwanda immediately before the genocide of 1994. On a single spot on the west bank of the Tigris river in north Baghdad, between 10 and 12 bodies have been drifting ashore every day.

In Kufa, a city on the Euphrates 90 miles south of Baghdad, the suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a dusty square 100 yards from a Shia shrine at 7.30am. He knew that poor day-labourers gathered there looking for work. He reportedly said: "I need labourers" and they climbed into his van, which exploded a few moments later, killing them and other workers near by. "Four of my cousins were killed," said Nasir Feisal, who survived the blast. "They were standing beside the van. Their bodies were scattered far apart by the blast."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1185356.ece

[DesertRat]

14. When will the administration admit this is now a civil war? n/t

[Canuckistanian]

15. It's a counterinsurrection, not a civil war

It all started when the other guys hit back.

[oasis]

16. Bush's War. What a damn mess. (eom)