A bomb exploded in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone Thursday, killing at least two lawmakers and wounding 10 other people.
On 9/11, our Congress may have been a target. And Islamists hit India's parliament with a bomb, too, fairly recently. I believe the Canadian jihadis from last year wanted to target Canada's parliament as well as behead the prime minister.
Most clearly, the enemy does not like democracy in action.
And yes, this attack is stunning. But as the article points out, such attacks are rare. That is why it was stunning. Any security can be breached and so this attack does not mean we are failing in Iraq as some will attempt to spin the attack.
The enemy fears democracy in Iraq as an alternative to their sick brand of Islam.
UPDATE: Al Qaeda claims responsibility. And democracy responds:
Iraqi lawmakers, meanwhile, gathered Friday in a rare — and defiant — session of parliament on the Muslim day of prayer. A red and white bouquet sat in Awad's place in the parliament chamber. Empty seats outnumbered people, though, as lawmakers took the podium one after another to denounce the bombing. One MP had his arm in sling and a woman lawmaker wore a neck brace.
"The more they (terrorists) act, the more solid we become. When they take from us one martyr, we will offer more martyrs," Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi said. "The more they target our unity, the stronger our unity becomes."
This attack, and chemical attacks on Sunni Arabs, is intended to scare the Sunni Arabs away from cooperating with the government and ending their insurgency.
But the vicious attacks may very well speed up the national resistance to drive out the invaders.
