Militants Strike Back With 69 Dead and 129 Injured In Car Bomb Attacks

Iraqi militants are striking back against the U.S. led crackdown that has been going on in Baghdad this past week with a Sunday car- bombing spree that left 63 people dead, mostly in Shiite sections. This is where it will start to get very ugly once again for the U.S. troops patrolling these streets since they are not, even after all these years, trained for this kind of warfare.             SEE BELOW

                                    

        AP

The first blast tore through a produce market in the mostly Shiite area of New Baghdad, toppling the wooden stalls and leaving pools of blood and vegetables trampled in the chaos. Minutes later, another car bomb exploded near a row of stores.

More than 129 people were injured, including many women who were shopping, said police and rescue officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

U.S. soldiers pressed closer to Sadr City on Sunday and the reception changed noticeably. In previous days, Shiite families opened their doors to welcome the troops — feeling that the American presence would be a buffer against feared attacks from Sunni militia.

On Sunday, in areas closer to Sadr City, parents slapped away the candy and lollipops given to children by soldiers.

 

Technorati tags: Iraqi Militants, U.S. Troops, Bomb attacks

Democrats To Restrict Bush's War Authorization

    It is reported that the Democrats might try to restrict Bush's war in Iraq by limiting the 2002 measure that authorized the use of force against Saddam Hussein.

   My question is, if they do such a thing, will Democrats also cut the $93 billion that Bush is seeking for the war? It would make no sense to do one without the other, the argument being that since Bush cannot go about things in the manner which he would like, then he would not need all of that cash to use in a curtailed action. I should note that the Democrats say that they may try to restrict some of the funds. Try? The House holds the strings to the war chest, there should be no trying about it. It should be done, period!

                                     MORE BELOW

                                    

 

AP

""That was a wide-open authorization which allowed him to do just about anything and put us now deep into combat in Iraq," said Sen. Carl Levin ( voting record), who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"We can modify the authorization in order to provide a much more limited mission which will remove our troops from the middle of a sectarian civil war," said Levin, D-Mich.

Sen. Joe Biden, a 2008 presidential candidate who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke of repealing that original authorization and restating the president's authority, to clarify the current mission of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I've been working with some of my colleagues to try to convince them that that's the way to go ... make it clear that the purpose that he has troops in there is to, in fact, protect against al-Qaida gaining chunks of territory, training the Iraqi forces, force protection and for our forces," said Biden, D-Del.

 

Technorati tags: Demmocrats, Bush, 2002 War Authorization, Harry Reid