A series of explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least 75 people and wounding more than 300, Iraqi police and medical officials said.
The blasts in the capital followed a string of attacks in Iraq this month that have claimed hundreds of lives and raised concerns about the ability of Iraqi security forces to keep the lid on violence in advance of an American withdrawal.
The deadliest was a car bomb near the foreign ministry, which killed at least 59 people and wounded 250. Officials said the toll may climb as rescue workers continue to search through rubble and debris. The ministry is close to the fortified Green Zone. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
This is unacceptable. You can't stop every suicide bomber on a bike or on foot, but security had darn well be tightened up enough to keep suicide truck bombs away from major targets.
I know that the physical barriers are coming down in Baghdad and everyone is happy that tangible sovereignty has passed to Iraqis, but heads should figuratively roll in the Baghdad security ministries. The Iraqis are still at war and they can't pretend that victory means fighting is over. Yes, the Iraqis (and America) won the war by blunting and gutting the major armed threats inside Iraq. But these threats were defeated and not destroyed. (Note Syria is still funneling in killers.)
I assume our guys are on this trying to help the Iraqis, but a sense of urgency needs to make itself felt aong the Iraqis to tamp this violence down before it really does trigger inter-communal warfare.
UPDATE: Reversing on the barriers, questioning security personnel, and a greater sense of urgency:
Al-Maliki convened an emergency meeting late Wednesday with senior security and military officials to discuss "rapid measures to achieve security and stability" in Baghdad and surrounding areas, to prevent insurgents from rekindling violence ahead of next year's elections, his office said in a statement.
It did not elaborate, but two government officials said the decision was made to keep the blast walls around markets and other vital areas in Baghdad and to set up mobile checkpoints to enhance searching and observation abilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, also said 11 police and army commanders overseeing security, traffic and intelligence services in the targeted areas have been detained on suspicion of negligence.
This is good. And I assume that aggressive counter terror measures will be taken in addition to the passive measures. We shall see if this energetic response can be sustained and dampen the attacks.
