Iraqi Parliament Hit By Suicide Bomber

Attack Deep Inside One Of The World's Most High Security Zones


Key bridge across the Tigris River reportedly destroyed by a truck bomb.

Some thin details are beginning to emerge about how a suicide bomber managed to penetrate more than eight layers of heavy security to blow himself up in a canteen frequented by MPs and media, inside the Iraqi Parliament. At least eight people are dead, including three politicans, with dozens wounded.

In what must be the biggest security breach in the four year history of 'The Green Zone', the bomber, reportedly a Sunni bodyguard for an MP, was helped in his attack by the failure of a key electronic security screeing system, at a pedestrian entrance to 'The Green Zone'. An entrance close to the Parliament itself, according to Associated Press reports:

The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.

After the parliament blast, security guards sealed the building and no one - including politicians – was allowed to enter or leave.

Caldwell said witness accounts indicated a suicide attack.

The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a possible withdrawal of American support.

One of the dead politicians was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said Saleh al-Mutlaq, the leader of the party, which holds 11 seats in Iraq’s legislature. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said.

Another legislator killed was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front that holds 44 seats in parliament, according to Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature’s media department.

Abu Bakr said he saw a suicide bomber’s body amid a ghastly scene at the restaurant.

“I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs – which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker,” he said.

Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution – apparently concerned that an attack might take place.

But a security scanner that checks pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working on Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said.

The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of US and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.

The US military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the heavily fortified region that also houses the US Embassy and offices of the Iraqi government. A militant rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor.

A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt.

The UK Independent's Iraq correspondent, Patrick Cockburn, wrote about the Parliament attack (some excerpts) :

Nowhere is safe. Insurgents struck in the heart of the Green Zone yesterday, one of the most heavily defended places in Baghdad. The symbolism - and the bloody message - was clear with this attack on the home to the US-imposed democracy.

The Green Zone bombing was not only an assault on democracy. It was intended to undermine President George Bush's troop "surge", which is denounced as a sham by so many Iraqis.

But even Iraqis hardened to violence were shocked by the bloody scene in parliament. "I saw a ball of fire and heard a huge, loud explosion," said one witness. "There were pieces of flesh floating in the air."

The success of a suicide bomber in penetrating one of the most tightly guarded buildings in the world could only have happened if he had help from other security men. The Iraqi parliament is well inside the heavily fortified Green Zone and is protected by eight layers of security, including at least three checks for explosives.

The suicide bombing is one of the most dramatic demonstrations of the extent to which the Sunni insurgents have infiltrated the government's own security apparatus. Other recent examples include the serious wounding of the deputy prime minister Salam al-Zubaie on 23 March by a bomber who got near him with the connivance of his own bodyguards.

The 275-member Iraqi parliament meets on the first floor of a cavernous building, originally built by Saddam Hussein to hold meetings of Islamic nations. Immediately outside the assembly hall is a restaurant. It was there, beside the cash register, that the bomber blew himself up.

The sensitivity of the US and the Iraqi government to the breach in security was apparent because all television cameras and video tapes showing the immediate aftermath of the blast were confiscated and handed to US authorities.

The only footage to be shown was by al-Hurra channel, shot seconds after the attack, it showed a dusty hallway with people screaming for help. One man is shown slumped in the dust.

The Green Zone itself is four miles square in the centre of Baghdad. It is heavily defended but some 5,000 Iraqis live inside it. It is defended by a mixture of soldiers, private security personel and bodyguards of uncertain loyalty.

Although President Bush has been seeking to blame Iran for supporting the insurgency in Iraq there is little evidence for that. The great majority of attacks on US forces are by Sunni guerrillas in Sunni districts. There have been battles with Shia militia but these have been intermittent. Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army, the largest Shia militia, has stood down his men and told them to avoid a confrontation with US forces.

Cockburn supplies more details on 'The Green Zone' :

The Green Zone is a forbidden city, a concrete fortress in the heart of Baghdad housing the Iraqi government, the US embassy, the British embassy and the Iraqi parliament. It is defended by concrete blast walls and well-fortified checkpoints.

Some four miles square, the zone began as the palace and office complex that was the centre of government for Saddam Hussein until his overthrow in April 2003. Over four years, it has become a hated symbol for people in Baghdad of the isolation of the Iraqi and American authorities from the terrors of real life in the city.

From a distance, the first signs of the Green Zone are the cranes rising above the enormous new US embassy. They are impossible to miss because they are the only new cranes in Baghdad.

A closer view of the Green Zone reveals that it is entirely surrounded by grey concrete blast walls to stop suicide bombers or other attackers. These walls run along the right-bank of the Tigris river and then run inland, blocking main roads and slicing through neighbourhoods.

Parliament Bombing : How Could It Happen? Intense, But Uneven Security

Baghdad : Mapping The Violence

Brits Get Their Revenge For Basra Ambush : At Least 20 Shiite Gunmen Slaughtered In The Streets - No Such Thing As A "No Go Zone" For Brits In Basra, Claims Commander

"The Iraqi Resistance Only Exists To End The Occupation"

Under Seige In Mosul : "If You Go Out In The Street By Yourself, You'll Be Dead In 15 Minutes"

Refugees Speak After Escaping From The Living Hell That Is Iraq 2007

South Of Iraq Now Set To Erupt - Police Commander Claims 500,000 Marched Against American Occupation

Attacks Hit Iraqi Parliament, Key Baghdad Bridge Only Hours Apart

Breaking Up Baghdad

Robert Fisk On The American Plan To "Seal Off Vast Sections" Of The Iraqi Capital


More than 100,000 Iraqis marched against the US-led occupation on the fourth anniversary of the Fall of Baghdad

One of the most widely read, and controversial, Iraq stories of the day is Robert Fisk's piece in the UK Independent on what he claims is an American plan to "divide Baghdad into sealed sections" :

Faced with an ever-more ruthless insurgency in Baghdad - despite President George Bush's "surge" in troops - US forces in the city are now planning a massive and highly controversial counter-insurgency operation that will seal off vast areas of the city, enclosing whole neighbourhoods with barricades and allowing only Iraqis with newly issued ID cards to enter.

The campaign of "gated communities" - whose genesis was in the Vietnam War - will involve up to 30 of the city's 89 official districts and will be the most ambitious counter-insurgency programme yet mounted by the US in Iraq.

The system has been used - and has spectacularly failed - in the past, and its inauguration in Iraq is as much a sign of American desperation at the country's continued descent into civil conflict as it is of US determination to "win" the war against an Iraqi insurgency that has cost the lives of more than 3,200 American troops.

...the campaign has far wider military ambitions than the pacification of Baghdad. It now appears that the US military intends to place as many as five mechanised brigades - comprising about 40,000 men - south and east of Baghdad, at least three of them positioned between the capital and the Iranian border. This would present Iran with a powerful - and potentially aggressive - American military force close to its border in the event of a US or Israeli military strike against its nuclear facilities later this year.

The initial emphasis of the new American plan will be placed on securing Baghdad market places and predominantly Shia Muslim areas. Arrests of men of military age will be substantial. The ID card project is based upon a system adopted in the city of Tal Afar by General Petraeus's men - and specifically by Colonel H R McMaster, of the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment - in early 2005, when an eight-foot "berm" was built around the town to prevent the movement of gunmen and weapons. General Petraeus regarded the campaign as a success although Tal Afar, close to the Syrian border, has since fallen back into insurgent control.

...the new project will involve joint American and Iraqi "support bases" in nine of the 30 districts to be "gated" off. From these bases - in fortified buildings - US-Iraqi forces will supposedly clear militias from civilian streets which will then be walled off and the occupants issued with ID cards. Only the occupants will be allowed into these "gated communities" and there will be continuous patrolling by US-Iraqi forces. There are likely to be pass systems, "visitor" registration and restrictions on movement outside the "gated communities". Civilians may find themselves inside a "controlled population" prison.

A former US officer in Vietnam who has a deep knowledge of General Petraeus's plans is sceptical of the possible results. "The first loyalty of any Sunni who is in the Iraqi army is to the insurgency," he said.

"Any Shia's first loyalty is to the head of his political party and its militia. Any Kurd in the Iraqi army, his first loyalty is to either Barzani or Talabani. There is no independent Iraqi army. These people really have no choice. They are trying to save their families from starvation and reprisal. At one time they may have believed in a unified Iraq. At one time they may have been secular. But the violence and brutality that started with the American invasion has burnt those liberal ideas out of people ... Every American who is embedded in an Iraqi unit is in constant mortal danger."

Below are excerpts from the key document that Fisk uses as the basis for his article :

FM 3-24 comprises 220 pages of counter-insurgency planning, combat training techniques and historical analysis. The document was drawn up by Lt-Gen David Petraeus, the US commander in Baghdad, and Lt-Gen James Amos of the US Marine Corps, and was the nucleus for the new US campaign against the Iraqi insurgency. These are some of its recommendations and conclusions:

* In the eyes of some, a government that cannot protect its people forfeits the right to rule. In [parts] of Iraq and Afghanistan... militias established themselves as extragovernmental arbiters of the populace's physical security - in some cases, after first undermining that security...

* In the al-Qa'ida narrative... Osama bin Laden depicts himself as a man purified in the mountains of Afghanistan who is inspiring followers and punishing infidels. In the collective imagination of Bin Laden and his followers, they are agents of Islamic history who will reverse the decline of the umma (Muslim community) and bring about its triumph over Western imperialism.

* As the Host Nation government increases its legitimacy, the populace begins to assist it more actively. Eventually, the people marginalise insurgents to the point that [their] claim to legitimacy is destroyed. However, victory is gained not when this is achieved, but when the victory is permanently maintained by and with the people's active support...

* Any human rights abuses committed by US forces quickly become known throughout the local populace. Illegitimate actions undermine counterinsurgency efforts... Abuse of detained persons is immoral, illegal and unprofessional.

* If military forces remain in their compounds, they lose touch with the people, appear to be running scared, and cede the initiative to the insurgents. Aggressive saturation patrolling, ambushes, and listening post operations must be conducted, risk shared with the populace and contact maintained.

* FM 3-24 quotes Lawrence of Arabia as saying: "Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them."

* FM 3-24 points to Napoleon's failure to control occupied Spain as the result of not providing a "stable environment" for the population. His struggle, the document says, lasted nearly six years and required four times the force of 80,000 Napoleon originally designated.

* Do not try to crack the hardest nut first. Do not go straight for the main insurgent stronghold. Instead, start from secure areas and work gradually outwards... Go with, not against, the grain of the local populace.

* Be cautious about allowing soldiers and marines to fraternise with local children. Homesick troops want to drop their guard with kids. But insurgents are watching. They notice any friendships between troops and children. They may either harm the children as punishment or use them as agents.

Senior Iraqi Government Official Gives Detailed Account Of How US Invasion Destroyed His Country - How To Completely Mismanagement An Occupation

One Day In Iraq, Tuesday, April 10 : 4 American Troops, 76 Iraqis Killed; British & American Troops In Heavy Street Battles With Insurgents And Militias, Dozens Of Civilians Killed, Wounded

Baghdad Battered By Heavy Bombing, Mortar Fire, Street Fighting

Baghdad Women Forced To Return To Wearing Head Scarves

Iraq's Wounded : On Their Own, More Than 36,000 Iraqis Wounded In Acts Of Violence In 2006

Al-Sadr Calls For Iraqi Army & Police To Join His Militias To Fight American Military Forces

Former Commander Of Iraq's Republican Guard Claims US Used Phosphorous And Neutron Bombs To Win The Battle For Baghdad's Airport Four Years Ago

Washington Post & Rueters Manipulated Quotes From US Military Spokesman Revealing That Roadside Bombs Are Made In Iraq, Not Iran

BAGHDAD GOES TO HELL

MARKET ATTACK DEATH TOLL SOARS PAST 270

CLAIM : WORSHIPPERS DOUSED IN PETROL, BURNED ALIVE IN REVENGE ATTACKS

Earlier this year, there was heated debate about whether or not the sectarian violence in Iraq amounted to a civil war. Today, it hardly seems worth bothering with vague such descriptives in an attempt to place historical perspectives on the savagery engulfing the city once defined as one of the world's greatest.

After the mutiple car bomb attacks in the Sadr City main market on Thursday that killed more than 270 Shiites, and injured another 22o more, Shiite and Sunnis death squads, insurgents, militiamen and lone vigilantes are now engaged in a storm of revenge killings. Revenging the revenge attacks that avenged the revenge attacks.

Baghdad is under as much of a total curfew as 20,000 to 30,000 Iraqi and American troops can enforce, but clearly those who intend to kill are moving about the city, and in particular, Sunni neighbourhoods unfettered.

One of the least reported results of the car bombings that led to the Baghdad curfew is the fact that Iraq's president has cancelled his weekened summit with the presidents of Iran and Syria. American military controlling the Baghdad international airport have closed down the runways to all incoming and outgoing flights.

One of the more horrific stories of the past 24 hours have been the reports that Sunni worshippers leaving a mosque were drenched in petrol and then burned alive, but as wire reporters are only able to gather information by telephone, these reports remain unconfirmed. Some news wires say they torchings occured, others say they are only terrible rumours.

The key lines below do not tell the full story of the horrorstorm engulfing Baghdad, and other large population centres of Iraq tonight, but they will lead you to more information, if that's what you require.

21 Shiite men were executed in front of their families by gunmen raiding homes in village 45 miles outside of Baghdad.


Shiite miliitamen drove through Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad, shooting at mosques with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. At least two mosques were completely destroyed. Four or five more Sunni mosques were damaged. Guards and locals were gunned down outside mosques.


American helicopters fired missiles into buildings from which Shiite militiamen, loyal to powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, were launching rockets into Sunni neighbourhoods; more than 18 people were killed, dozens more injured in Shiite revenge attacks on Sunni mosques during the holy day of prayer; Moqtada al-Sadr was reported as claiming he would withdraw all support for the Iraqi government if prime minister al-Maliki meets with US President Bush in Jordan on Thursday; Shiite gunmen overran one Sunni mosque and then declared it was now a Shiite mosque, before postering images of al-Sadr.


In the United States, Democrats are calling for a phased four-to-six month withdrawal of American forces ahead of Bush's upcoming meeting with the controversial Iraq Study Group, which is expected to recommend a similiar plan. Key Democrats are now saying Iraqis must understand the US commitment of troops to Iraq is not "open-ended".


The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, on November 14, said he was in favour of entering"talks" with Syria and Iran, a strategy backed by British PM Tony Blair. Bush, however, does not yet favour this option.

Bizarrely, President Bush actually believes he is in a position to negotiate with Iran and for the Iranians to make concessions. Bush is notorious for putting positive spins on ultimately dire situations because he believes to do otherwise will show a dangerous weakness which will encourage terrorists and anti-American militias and fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Iraq PM Hails Iranian Assistance In Reconstruction Efforts

In Iraq "There Are No Voices Of Moderation. The Calls For National Unity Are Lost Among The Cries For Sectarian War."

Powerful Shiite Legislator Blames US For Sadr City Market Car Bombings, Calls For US Troops Withdrawal,

Mocqtada al-Sadr Demands PM Maliki Cancel Summit With President Bush - "There Is No Reason To Meet With The Criminal Who Is Behind Terrorism In Iraq"

Claim : Documents Reveal US Already Negotiating With Sunni "Reistance" In Iraq - US May Help Turn Control Of Iraq Back Over To Sunnis To Stop Iran From Claiming Country As Victory Prize

Turkey And Iran Warn Against The Partitioning Of Iraq