Monday, May 20, 2013

69 dead as violence slams Iraq

Violence slams Iraq today.  Al Jazeera notes, "Eight car bombs in mainly Shia districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killed 20 people on Monday."   National Iraqi News Agency reports a Mosul roadside bombing injured a police officer and civilian, 2 Basra car bombings claimed 13 lives and left fifty injured, a Samara car bombing claimed 13 lives and left nine people injured, a Mosul mortar attack claimed 1 life and left another person injured,  and an Anbar attack left 8 police officers dead.  Xinhua adds, "Twelve kidnapped policemen were killed and four were wounded in overnight clashes between the abductors and the Iraqi security forces in Anbar province, a provincial police source said on Monday. The Iraqi army and police forces carried out a joint operation on Sunday night in the desert area between Baghdad and Jordan to free kidnapped policemen, and the troops clashed with their kidnappers, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity."  And Alsumaria reports a Tikrit car bombing has claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers and left fifteen more injured.  That's 69 deaths and eighty-one injured.




Through Saturday, Iraq Body Count counts 412 violent deaths so far this month.  That means IBC has 13 more days this month to count deaths.  The violence is increasing in Iraq.  Tomorrow Parliament is supposed to hold an emergency session to explore the security problems.   Le Monde notes the violence comes as Nouri al-Maliki is accused of refusing to share power.

All Iraq News reports State of Law has announced, via MP Ibrahim al-Rikabi, that they will not be attending the emergency session.  State of Law is Nouri al-Maliki's political coalition.  It came in second to Iraqiya in the 2010 parliamentary elections. Last July, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed, "Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions, including the ministers of defense, interior and national security, while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support." Nouri's failure to fill those positions goes a long way towards explaining how violence has increased.  Press TV reminds, "The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008 as terrorist acts killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 across the country."  Ali al-Timimi is an MP with Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc.  He tells All Iraq News that he doubts State of Law will attend since Nouri has refused calls to appear before Parliament to discuss the security issue before.  He stated that they should "attend the session to stop shedding the Iraqi blood."

  On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI (although I believe today is pledge drive -- in which case the hosts should be on for two hours instead of one) and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include efforts to have Lynne Stewart granted a compassionate release, the National Security Archives' Kate Doyle joins the hosts to discuss Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt being found guilty of genocide, attorney Dana Lossia  on the NYC Fire Dept discrimination case and Anne O'Berry discussing various topics including prison issues.




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