Suicide Blasts Kill 6 Near Baghdad Hotel

The US are doing a poor job of fighting these terrorists in Iraq, no wonder most people in Baghdad believe the US is behind some of the larger attacks, like the ones on the UN and a mosque a few weeks ago.

www.guardian.co.uk...

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Suicide attackers struck again Sunday in Iraq, this time with twin car bombs in the heart of Baghdad that fell short of a hotel full of Americans but exploded on a busy commercial street, killing six bystanders and wounding dozens, U.S. military and Iraqi officials said.

The Pentagon said gunfire from Iraqi guards and U.S. personnel aborted the drivers' plan to hit the Baghdad Hotel, home to officials of the U.S.-led occupation authority here and reportedly some members of Iraq's interim Governing Council.

At least one guard was reported among the dead; the two bombers also were presumed killed. One member of the 25-seat Governing Council, Mouwafak al-Rabii, told Al-Jazeera satellite television he suffered a slight hand injury.

It was the seventh fatal vehicle bombing in Iraq since early August, attacks that have taken more than 140 lives. All have targeted institutions perceived as cooperating with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and none has been reported solved."

Peace said:
"The US are doing a poor job of fighting these terrorists in Iraq, no wonder most people in Baghdad believe the US is behind some of the larger attacks, like the ones on the UN and a mosque a few weeks ago."

Care to provide that information?

Sure their wasn't a signal being sent.....I find it quite ironic that today is the anniversary of the Bali bombing and the bombing of the USS Cole.


regards
seekerof

Found this article today:
I think it amounts to speculation but who knows.....
"Who Bombed the Baghdad Hotel?"
Link:
www.frontpagemag.com...

Excerpt:

"1] High speculation: The prime suspect since the attacks against the Jordanian embassy, the UN headquarters and a hotel that hosted the NBC crew, is Ansar el-Islam, an affiliate of al-Qaeda. Such attacks may have benefited from internal intelligence provided by former Iraqi Baathists. The lines separating the two groups are blurring by the day. But the "international dimension" of these attacks has the fingerprints of a network that keeps an eye on the world reaction to these types of deadly explosions.


The Jihadists are known for their psychological aims not only on the actual victims of the attacks but also on a public opinion that can weaken the resolve of the enemy, in this case the U.S. The real effects of a suicide attack or a car bomb in Baghdad are on U.S. TV and al-Jazeera. That is their real battlefield.



Statements made in the past indicate that al-Qaeda and its local allies are now targeting the "residence of U.S. personnel." If you make a normal deployment of your enemy's personnel in their offices and bedrooms a risk, then you have created a strategic problem for the enemy. That is a page taken directly the jihad manual recently found on the Internet.

[2] Possible speculation: Pieces of analysis tend to think that the strike could have been ordered by Syrian intelligence to "respond" to the U.S. endorsement of the Israeli strike on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad base near Damascus last week. If you analyze the statements made by several Syrian officials and pro-Syrian leaders this week, including the Syrian ambassador in Madrid ,and an al-Baath newspaper editor on al-Jazeera, they all share one talking point: Syria has "many ways" to respond to the Israeli-led (and, from their point of view, U.S.-sponsored) attacks, and Syria will choose when and where. For those with expertise in Syrian tactics, the logic of striking back at American interests in Iraq is not illogical. Many commentators in the Arab world have openly stated that the Israeli strike in Syria is an American message to Damascus. A logical extension of this equation would be that Syria responded to Washington on the battlefield on which it is most successful: Iraq.

[3] Potential link: A third possible theory is an amalgam of the previous two: that all these forces, and possibly more, are allied in their war against the Great Satan. This thesis suggests that there is a "regional war room" (RWR) centered in one - possibly more - capitals, which strategically coordinates the anti-American attacks. According to the proponents of this analysis, as of the fall of Saddam Hussein�s regime, the RWR is "in charge" of these two theatres: the suicide attacks in Israel and the anti-American terror activities in Iraq. Additionally, that hypothetical"room" is said to be plotting strikes against "moderate" Arab countries, as well.

Obviously these are only speculations......"



regards
seekerof

These strikes are probably the work of Islamist militants from outside of Iraq's borders. The method is one that they've tried and tested before.

If anything though, these are signs of desperation and do nothing to further their cause.

Incidentally, I've just been reading the BBC website, where they have interviewed 10 Iraqis from all walks of life. Although a couple of them seem to be critical of the US, the general consensus is that things have got a lot better in Baghdad in the last few weeks and that security has improved greatly.
There is always going to be the risk of further attacks as long as Saddam has supporters, but as the situation improves, his followers will probably dwindle in numbers.

This doesn't take into account the foreign religious extremists, but in general, they too should find it harder to attack as time goes on. Suicide bombs are about the only method that they have left open to them.

Do you guys remeber the Baghdad Blogger, Salam pax.
I read in one of his articles (sorry, i've looked, but can't find a link) that a lot of locals in Baghdad blamed the US for some of the larger blasts, as they felt the US wanted to divide Iraqis and encourage them to fight amongst themselves.
I personally do not think this to be true, I do however think the US should be doing more to hand power back to the Iraqis so that the terrorists are seen as terrorists by everyone in Iraq. They shouldn't be allowed to have any public support as this will only strengthen their resolve. You cannot defeat this sort of terrorism with brute force, you need to isolate the terrorists in every way possible. For every successful raid, you will have half a dozen radicalised youths who have witnessed the events.

I don't understand how they haven't been able to make more arrests in connection with the constant attacks, thats why I think they are doing a poor job, they are not solving any of the crimes, the terrorists are going un-punished and are probably planning more attacks as we speak.

At least they caught someone for this latest blast:

"The report of arrests in connection with the Baghdad Hotel bombing was the first public announcement of detentions tied to any of the eight car bomb attacks in Iraq that have killed more than 135 people, most of them Iraqis, since early August. Six exploded in Baghdad, and an estimated 100 people were killed in late August when a car bomb detonated outside a Shiite Muslim shrine in Najaf.

A senior military intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in an interview Friday that U.S. military forces arrested one or two suspected foreign terrorists last month who were linked to the bombings of the U.N. headquarters and the Jordanian Embassy in August. The official said the two were picked up in a raid on a house in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, during which two soldiers were killed and seven suffered minor wounds. The official did not provide any other details....

"The old regime, they have a lot of friends, a lot of people cooperating with them," Taur said. "If there are Americans still in Iraq, things will continue like this." "

www.washingtonpost.com...