Truck bomb blast collapses main Baghdad highway

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

21 Mar 2007 13:13:09 GMT

BAGHDAD, March 21 (Reuters) - Iraqi police detonated a huge truck bomb
near the Finance Ministry in Baghdad on Wednesday in a controlled explosion
that collapsed part of the main highway linking the north and south of the
capital.

The facade of the multi-storey ministry in Bab al-Muadham area in central
Baghdad was also badly damaged in the blast, which police said wounded 12
people, including soldiers and policemen.

The building was empty because it was a national holiday marking the first
day of spring.



Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL141269.htm

---

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, March 21
21 Mar 2007 11:37:42 GMT
Source: Reuters

March 21 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq
as of 1130 GMT on Wednesday:

* denotes new or updated item.

*MADAEN - A mortar explosion killed three people and wounded 10 in Madaen,
45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

-snip-

BAGHDAD - The bodies of 32 people were found shot dead on Tuesday in
different districts of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - Police said that they found the bodies of seven people shot dead
on Tuesday in different districts of the northern city of Mosul, 390 km
(240 miles) north of Baghdad.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAM131100.htm

[maddezmom]

1. oops

[MaineDem]

2. A very big oops! n/t

[Javaman]

4. And yet, not a word from the MSM noise box.

you know, because according to pickles, only one bomb goes off there a day now and according to maliki, things are getting better and according to the military, they are seeing improvements...

I get so tired of living in an alternative universe.

[wordpix]

12. who gets baby Dannilynne Smith is much more important

[saigon68]

7. FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH

[Eugene]

3. U.S. Destroys Bomb Factory in Iraq

U.S. Destroys Bomb Factory in Iraq

Source: Associated Press

Wednesday March 21, 2007 12:46 PM

AP Photo NY190

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. troops killed five insurgents and destroyed a bomb-making
factory Wednesday north of Baghdad, and dozens more were detained after fierce
clashes in a Sunni-dominated province west of the capital.

-snip-

U.S. forces killed five suspected insurgents, detained three others and used an
airstrike to destroy a bomb-making factory that contained large-caliber ammunition
and several 50-gallon barrels of explosive material near Taji, an air base 12 miles
north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. No American troops or civilians
were injured during the operation, it added.

A Sadrist lawmaker, Bahaa al-Araji, also said U.S. troops raided his office Wednesday,
seizing the memory card from his computer along with a gun and a rifle. The U.S.
military had no immediate comment.

-snip-

West of Baghdad, U.S.-Iraqi troops backed by American warplanes battled al-Qaida-
linked insurgents for more than five hours Tuesday in clashes in Amiriyah, near
Fallujah, that left eight killed and five Iraqi policemen wounded, the military said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6497099,00.html

[soothsayer]

5. I want a national holiday marking the first day of Spring!

[Arkansas Granny]

15. Me, too!

[Ian David]

6. It doesn't sound like we trained them very well, did we?

I suppose that blowing-up the main highway is ONE way to keep our troops from getting killed when they drive on it.

[lonestarnot]

8. Is this the one in which they used kids?

[951-Riverside]

9. Doesn't seem "controlled"

[Eugene]

10. Bomber kills three at Kurdish HQ in Iraq's Mosul

Bomber kills three at Kurdish HQ in Iraq's Mosul

Source: Reuters

21 Mar 2007 16:12:21 GMT

MOSUL, Iraq, March 21 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed three and
wounded 20 on Wednesday when he blew his truck up at the headquarters
of a Kurdish party in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

Witnesses said the bomber drove his truck into the headquarters of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by the Kurdish leader Masoud
Barazani, as Kurds were celebrating the spring festival of Nawruz.


Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KAR158424.htm

[underpants]

11. PICTURES

Security guards stand at a Finance ministry building after a controlled explosion in Baghdad, March 21, 2007. Iraqi police detonated a huge truck bomb near the Finance Ministry in Baghdad on Wednesday in a controlled explosion that collapsed part of the main highway linking the north and south of the city. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz (IRAQ)



Policemen and security guards from the Ministry of Finance inspect the damage after a controlled explosion in Baghdad March 21, 2007.


Iraqi police inspect a collapsed highway overpass after they detonated a truck full of explosives after spotting it parked near the Finance Ministry building in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 21, 2007.

Oh okay that makes more sense





http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x464459

[wordpix]

13. "controlled" as in, this is how we'll get control? Demolish all remaining infrastructure?

:eyes: geesh

[semillama]

16. Exactly!

If there is nothing to left to blow up, then there will be no more explosions! Quickly, start demolishing everything!

[xchrom]

14. there must have been a sale on ''surges'' at wal-mart.

now EVERYONE has one.

[Eugene]

17. Update on "controlled" blast - 1 dead, 7 wounded

U.S. destroys bomb factory in Iraq

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer

Wed Mar 21, 10:59 AM ET

-snip-

• One civilian was killed and seven were wounded when Iraqi police detonated
a truck full of explosives after spotting it parked about near the Finance
Ministry building in northern Baghdad.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[rocktivity]

21. Why didn't they evacuate the area first?

I'm willing to suppose that sacrificing the highway was the lesser of two evils compared to attempting to move the truck. But how much "control" did they have if the detonation killed people? Exactly what kind of training are the Iraqi police getting?

:crazy:
rocknation

[Toucano]

18. I don't worry. It's in it's last throes!

And we've turned a corner.

That's what I've been told, at least. :)

[liberal renegade]

19. when did we do that?

oh now I remember. it only took 6 weeks for mission accomplished and then we turned the corner right into an insurgency...

6 weeks, I doubt 6 months, a billion or a billion and a half.... Who said that?

[Toucano]

20. It was Wolfie, I think.

Yes, that was some corner, wasn't it?

[Javaman]

22. It was rumspuke. nt