Large blast rocks Iraqi capital

[cal04]

A large explosion has rocked the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, six days before elections are due to take place. Officials said a suicide car bomb went off at a checkpoint near Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party offices, located in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

At least 10 people are said to have been injured in the blast.
Supporters of militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on an Islamist website.


Security problems

Officials in the prime minister's office said Mr Allawi was not in the area at the time of Monday's explosion, but several of the party's staff were hurt as they were arriving for work.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4200783.stm

[IndianaGreen]

1. Sounds like an absentee ballot going off

Baghdad is more dangerous than Saigon was during Tet.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Bush admin now calling such incidents "Freedom Booms."

:crazy:

[purduejake]

3. lol... the fire of freedom is coming!

[clydefrand]

5. Sounds to me like the shrub wants hear freedom

exploding throughout the axis of evil! New meaning to: let freedom ring!

[bpilgrim]

6. we need to hold their feet to this 'freedom fire'

that they started in iraq before the neoCONs start any others :argh:

peace

[Botany]

4. No that wasn't an explosion it was ......

....... a heavy thud of all the sweets and rose petals that rummy, chalabi, and wolfie
said was going to be thrown at our feet.

I really hate those guys.

:mad:

[sherilocks]

7. Looks like the only votes in Iraq will be coming

from Iraqis who live outside the country. Negreponte said on one of the Sunday talk shows that "only" four of the 18 provinces in Iraq had serious security problems that will keep Iraqis away from the polls. What he didn't say is that 40% of Iraqi voters live in those four provinces.

Dipshit repugs have really brought "freedom and democracy" to the Iraqis, along with death, destruction, and chaos.

[jmcgowanjm]

8. ABC(Australia) says 20 dead

The ABC's Iraqi cameraman was queuing for petrol across
the road from where the explosion went
off.
He was struck by debris from the explosion but not
injured.
When he pulled out his camera he was seized by police
and forced to move out of the
area.
He says he believes there were around 20 dead or badly
injured, many of them Iraqi police guarding the checkpoint
near the Prime Minister's
office.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1288073.htm