By D. Cupples | Yesterday, four bombs killed 25 people and wounded 65, the deadliest of which killed 16 and wounded 32 in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood.
Also yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates held a news conference with the Iraqi Defense Minister. Gates' comments were optimistic, according to the Associated Press:
"'I believe that a secure, stable Iraq is within reach,' Gates said, adding however: 'We need to be patient.'... Gates noted a decline in overall violence in Iraq during recent months, that has led to 'a growing sense of normalcy and hope.' But he acknowledged increasing militant and terrorist activities in northern Iraq." (AP)
Gates seems to be saying it's good, but it's bad. Below are comments from an Iraqi business owner (who was near the Karradah bombing site) and a U.S. Army officer:
"Firas Adel, who owns a clothing store about 400 yards from the site of the explosion, said terrified bystanders fled when the bomb went off.
"'The police prevented us from getting to the site, but I saw the wounded screaming for help, including a teenage friend of mine who lost both his feet,' Adel said. 'There are people who want to end the security improvements and bring back chaos.'"...
Army Col. Tony Thomas, a brigade commander, said senior commanders in the north are looking for additional U.S. troops and also would like the return of 1,400 Iraqi troops sent to Baghdad to provide 'more combat power' to help stabilize areas such as Diyala province, Mosul and Samara. (AP)
Col. Thomas seems to be saying that Mosul, Samara and the Diyala province aren't stable. Yesterday's four attacks occurred in Mosul, Kirkuk, Baghdad, and an area north of Baghdad.
Two weeks ago, two car bombs -- one near a pet market in central Baghdad -- killed 26 and wounded dozens more (BN-Politics). A few days earlier, as Military Public Relations Officer Gregory Smith proclaimed a 50%+ drop in violence, bombs killed 20 people in Iraq. (Washington Post)
Two weeks before that, as General Joseph Fil spoke of an 80% decline in violence, a roadside bomb killed two children and a mass grave was found in rural Iraq, which included 17 bound bodies, four of which were headless. (NY Times)
Meanwhile, Vice President Dick Cheney has predicted that Iraq will be a self-governing democracy by 2009 and called the surge strategy “a remarkable success story” (Gateway Pundit citing The Politico via Memeorandum).
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