I wonder when this administration will be willing to call it a civil war? Right before they leave office?
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28 people dead in new violence in Iraq By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
27 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Twenty-eight people were killed Tuesday in a series of bombings and shootings. An American soldier and two Iraqi journalists also have been killed, officials said. The latest violence occurred as the United States launches a major operation to secure Baghdad to control Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed that many fear will lead to civil war.
The attacks came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sharply criticized a U.S.-Iraqi attack on Sadr City, the area of Baghdad that's the stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.
Police said three people, including a woman and a child, were killed in the raid, which the U.S. command said was aimed at "individuals involved in punishment and torture cell activities." Three people were captured in the raid, the U.S. military said without mentioning the deaths.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, said he was "very angered and pained" by the operation, warning that it could undermine his efforts toward national reconciliation.
"Reconciliation cannot go hand in hand with operations that violate the rights of citizens this way," al-Maliki said in a statement on government television. "This operation used weapons that are unreasonable to detain someone — like using planes."
He apologized to the Iraqi people for the operation and said "this won't happen again."
Hours after he spoke, central Baghdad was shaken early Tuesday by three near-simultaneous bomb explosions near the Interior Ministry building in Al-Nahda neighborhood. Ten civilians were killed and eight people were injured, said police Lt. Bilal Ali Majid.
A few hours later, two roadside bombs exploded in the main Shurja market in central Baghdad within minutes of each other, killing 10 people and injuring 50, said police Lt. Mohammed Kheyoun.
In other violence Tuesday:
• gunmen stormed a bank in Baghdad and killed two guards and a customer before driving away with an unknown amount of money.
• two roadside bombs in Tikrit north of Baghdad killed a policeman.
• gunmen shot dead four Shiites in four separate attacks in Baqouba and Muqdadiyah.
Concerned by the cycle of violence, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, met with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., on Monday to discuss security operations in Baghdad. Talabani said he told Casey "it is in no one's interest to have a confrontation" with al-Sadr's movement.
The public position taken by al-Maliki and Talabani signal serious differences between Iraqi politicians and both U.S. and Iraqi military officials on how to restore order and deal with armed groups, many of which have links to political parties.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Talabani, Casey made no mention of al-Sadr but said he had discussed plans with Talabani to bring "fundamental change to the security situation in Baghdad."
Casey said he hoped the new operation would "change the situation significantly prior to Ramadan," which begins in late September.
Al-Sadr has risen as a major figure in the majority Shiite community and a pillar of support for al-Maliki. The prime minister's apology and criticism of the U.S. forces may have helped placate al-Sadr, who on Monday urged his followers to show restrain.
In a statement read out at all Mahdi Army offices, al-Sadr urged his militiamen to be "calm and patient, and avoid being drawn into civil war," said the cleric's aide, Mohammed al-Fartousi.
He said al-Sadr urged the militiamen to purge all those who bring the Mahdi Army into disrepute. They should also "denounce the kidnapping of Iraqis, denounce destruction of mosques and denounce killing of innocent people," said his aide, Mohammed al-Fartousi.
Police reported Tuesday that two Iraqi journalists were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad. They are among more than 100 Iraqi and foreign media workers slain here since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
A U.S. soldier died of wounds sustained in fighting, the U.S. military said Tuesday. Overnight, nine bullet-riddled bodies were found in Kut south of Baghdad, and four Shiites were shot dead by gunmen in Baqouba, northeast of the capital.
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