Iraq News (7 March)

The Good: An Al-Qaeda torture house has been found by US forces working with the Sons of Iraq south of Baghdad (thanks to 3ID for the operation, and thanks to Blackfive for the pic below). The house was tipped off by the locals showing the effectiveness of the counter-insurgency campaign of meeting and greeting friendly locals (especially the locals with AK-47s who want to kick out Al-Qaeda). The house had hooks, handcuffs, and a bunch of other sick, twisted shit. A round-up of suspected Qaeda insurgents killed/captured by either Iraqi or US forces can be found here.

The Bad: Damn. Another suicide vest attack in Baghdad's middle-class Karrada neighborhood. This one used the old tactic of blowing up one small bomb, and using a larger sucide attack to kill people who gatheted around the first explosion. Over 50 dead, mostly young adults. Not good. There was suggestions from Lt. Gen Odierno and Ambassador Crocker that Iranian proxies had cut back on their activity in Baghdad after and during the Ahmadinejad visit. But comparing Al-Qaeda style tactics and Shia militia tactics is apples and oranges. I can't recall an Iranian-backed Shia militia ever utilizing a suicide attack as a tactic. This has the hallmark of Al-Qaeda.

The Ugly: KBR (the provider of everything under the sun on coalition bases in Iraq and elsewhere) has been exposed as using an offshore Caribbean Island account for tax evasion purposes. Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Krusty gets in trouble with the IRS. These corporations that have profited so heavily from the nation's conflicts seem ungrateful, you'd think they'd pony up like everyone else. Also, 1/5 of soldiers who have been to Iraq or the Stan show syptoms of PTSD according to a new statistics.

Torture House Located by the Sons of Iraq