State media: Suicide bomber kills at least 20 in Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman targeted Shiite pilgrims Saturday outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra, killing at least 20 people and wounding 70, according to authorities and state-run TV.
The bomber struck a police checkpoint near a Shiite mosque where many of the pilgrims were headed to mark a revered holy day, the end of a 40-day mourning period known as Arbaeen, Interior Ministry officials said.
There were conflicting casualty reports, with state-run Al Iraqiya reporting there were at least 20 people killed and 70 wounded, while Interior Ministry officials told CNN there were at least 10 dead and 30 wounded. Conflicting reports are common in Iraq in the aftermath of an attack.
Scores of pilgrims -- who make the journey on foot -- have been killed and wounded in recent days in attacks blamed on Sunni extremists, who have routinely targeted the pilgrims.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/14/world/meast/iraq-violence/?hpt=hp_t3
= new reply since forum marked as read
still waiting for proper link.
Iraq suicide bomb kills 50 in Basra pilgrims attack.
At least 50 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on Shia pilgrims in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, Iraqi police and security sources say.
The attack was aimed at pilgrims marking the festival of Arbain, one of the main holy days of the Shia calendar, reports say.
Security had been tight amid fears of insurgent attacks during the festival.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16560042
Remind me again about what we accomplished after being there for almost nine years... 
and installed a Shiite regime. That's something, right?
But, by my math, it took longer than nine years. We went into Iraq in 1991, withdrew in 2011.
And, when I say "withdrew", I have to use twitchy double-fingered "quote-mark" hand motions, because we are still there in force. The army has simply been replaced by Blackwater/Xi (or whatever their nom-de-jour is), under the State Department instead of Defense.
That is not a positive development and it looks like the violence there is currently as bad as it's ever been.
