Not a Good Sunday...

I think it's time to step back from my usual political rhetoric and shenanigans and reflect on the most recent atrocities wrought by terrorists. War is nasty business, and while some people get killed charging a hill or storming a beach, others get killed while handing out toys to youngsters in Diyala province. AP has the story here.

"A suicide bomber detonated his explosives as American soldiers were handing out toys to children northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least three children and three of the troopers, U.S. and Iraqi authorities said. Seven children were wounded in the attack in Baqouba, where U.S. soldiers wrested control from al-Qaida in Iraq last summer."


Diyala province has seen a lot of tough fighting this year against both Al-Qaeda Iraq and Shiite extremists. Operation Arrowhead Ripper purged a lot of the area in early June, when the surge reached full strength, but the enemy still has the means to conduct acts of brutality. I sincerely believe that terrorism, like fascism and communism in 20th century, is the greatest threat of the 21st century and all efforts must be employed to exterminate it like the virus that it is. I wanted to post the names of the fallen as a solemn memorial, but they aren't released yet by the DoD, presumably since the grim task of notifying the families is in progress. You can get the names of the fallen, when released, here:

There was also an attack on the Finance Minister's convoy in the Karrada district of Baghdad across the river. Al-Sharqiya satellite TV has got the story:

"A car bomb has exploded in the area of Al-Karradah in central Baghdad. At least 14 people were either martyred or wounded in the attack. Iraqi police sources said that the explosion targeted the motorcade of an Iraqi Finance Ministry official without identifying him. The sources only said that five people were martyred and nine others sustained various wounds, adding that this is still an initial death toll owing to the fact that some of the wounded have sustained very serious injuries."

While violence is down in the country, this makes it clear that it is still at unacceptable levels. This flare up on Sunday was most likely an attempt to incite Shiite - Sunni sectarian violence, since it was the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr. Iraq has a long way to go...











Islamic State of Iraq AKA Al-Qaeda Iraq AKA AQI AKA The enemy