Blast 'kills 28' during Iraq raid

[cal04]

At least 28 people have been killed in an explosion as Iraqi police raided a house in Baghdad, police say. It is understood the police had gone to the house after receiving a tip-off that a militant was hiding there.

The incident comes a day after insurgents attacked Iraqi police posts in Sunni Muslim strongholds. In one of the apparently co-ordinated strikes, a police station south of Tikrit, was stormed by gunmen who executed 12 officers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131479.stm

A powerful blast destroyed a house in western Baghdad during an overnight raid by police, flattening several nearby buildings and killing at least 28 people including seven policemen, police said on Wednesday. They said the house had been raided because it was a suspected base for foreign militants. As police burst in, a blast tore through the building. Five nearby houses were also destroyed. By dawn, U.S. and Iraqi troops had sealed off the site.

Some locals said they believed the house had been used by foreign Arab fighters. The U.S. military says the main groups behind the insurgency in Iraq (news - web sites) are Sunni Muslim militants, former supporters of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), and foreign fighters.
Washington has offered $25 million for information leading to the death or capture of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been hailed as the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq in an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) aired this week.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=2&u=/nm/20041229/ts_nm/iraq_blast_dc

[Barrett808]

1. Rope-a-dope

Demonstrates yet again the sorry state of our intelligence -- and the superior state of the insurgency's.

[rocktivity]

2. Oh, great--now they're sending out false tips about booby-trapped houses

Say, do you suppose there's a connection between the bad intelligence Bush is getting in exchange for his approving the use of torture?

:headbang:
rocknation

[TahitiNut]

3. "The U.S. military says the main groups behind the insurgency in Iraq ..."

... are Sunni Muslim militants, former supporters of Saddam Hussein, ... foreign fighters", Baathists, Kurds, Shiite Muslim militants, and anyone not on the American corporatist payroll (plus many who are).

[Straight Shooter]

4. Has anybody kept a count at all about the number of Iraqi police killed?

Every time I read about an attack, it seems there are almost always Iraqi policemen killed.

Hey, bushies! Do you even give a rat's ass about these people? They had lives, they had families to love, they had dreams. Do you even care?

I feel so sick, I see another bushie shrugging and changing the channel on the remote.

[NYC]

5. This article reminds me:

...Washington has offered $25 million for information leading to the death or capture of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been hailed as the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq in an audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden aired this week...

What happened to the man who supposedly collected millions for disclosing Saddam Hussein's hiding place?

[ObamaFan2500]

6. Iraqis are suffering

Terrible fussering in Iraq.. It just isn't right .. What about the children of Iraq?

[LynnTheDem]

7. The "US military" is LYING. Which spokesidiot is it this time?

Usually their spokespeople tell the actual truth; the insurgents are ORDINARY IRAQIS tired of US occupation and having their loved ones killed.

But every now & then, especially when the bad news reality leaks out, they send out a spokesidiot to lie.

The TRUTH:

Insurgents Are Mostly Iraqis, US Military Says

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0928-21.htm

US, British holding 10,000 detainees-ONLY 353 are "foreigners"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1273053.htm

'Home-Grown Uprising': Few Foreigners Among Insurgents

Of the more than 1,000 men between the ages of 15 and 55 who were captured in intense fighting in the center of the insurgency over the last week, just 15 are confirmed foreign fighters, Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. ground commander in Iraq, said Monday.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1116-23.htm

USATODAY.com - Foreign detainees are few in Iraq

Suspected foreign fighters account for less than 2% of the 5,700 captives being held as security threats in Iraq, a strong indication that Iraqis are largely responsible for the stubborn insurgency.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-05-detainees-usat_x.htm

Al Sadr is a Shi'ite, Basra is SHIA, the people of Fallujah were NEVER "Saddam loyalists"; Sadr City is SHIA; Najaf is SHIA; Karbala is SHIA.

It ain't just "Sadam loyalists", Sunnis and "foreign fighters"; it's MOSTLY IRAQIS, Sunni and Shia. And usually the US military admits this. Gotta give them kudos for that.

[Charlie Brown]

8. at CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/29/iraq.main/index.html

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[0rganism]

10. Seems like it's been one a day for quite a while. Predictable, much?

Although I have to admit, the booby-trapped house seems to be a new trick for the insurgents, or at least one I haven't heard about recently.

They'd better slow down, wouldn't want to burn through all 380 tons of fucking looted high explosives at once, would they? :mad:

I wonder what the official Iraqi police uniform looks like. Does it have a big target on the front, or is it just assumed that everybody knows what to do with 'em already? That's gotta be the worst job in the world! Anything lamer than being an Iraqi policeman, and it's not a job.

[NickB79]

11. Sounds like a trap to me

Have someone phone in a false tip that there is an insurgent safehouse nearby, when in reality it has been rigged with explosives. US and Iraqi forces come streaming in to raid the place, and BOOM!!!

Plenty of enemy casualties, relatively cheap to set up, and minimal risk to yourself.