Suicide Blast in Baghdad Kills at Least 48
Anti-al-Qaida Sunni group attacked as they collected their paychecks
A man kisses the body of a government-backed Sunni militia member laid on the ground of a hospital yard in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad, on Sunday, July 18, 2010, after the deadly blast. (Photo credit: Reuters)
July 18, 2010
BAGHDAD — Twin suicide bombings killed 48 people on Sunday, including dozens from a government-backed, anti-al-Qaida militia lining up to collect their paychecks near a military base southwest of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.
The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across Iraq Sunday that were aimed at the Sons of Iraq, Sunni groups also known as Awakening Councils that work with government forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. …
The first attack Sunday morning — the worst against Iraq’s security forces in months — killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 40. It occurred at a checkpoint near a military base where the Awakening Council members had lined up to collect their paychecks in the mostly Sunni district of Radwaniya southwest of Baghdad. …
A military official at the base said the explosion was the work of one suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest. …
In the second attack, a suspected militant stormed a local Awakening Council headquarters in the far western town Qaim, near the Syrian border, and opened fire on those inside.
The fighters returned fire, wounding the attacker, who then blew himself up as they gathered around him, killing three and wounding six others, police officials said on condition of anonymity. …
Two members of Awakening Councils were also wounded in two minor attacks south of Baghdad on Sunday. …
More than four months after March’s inconclusive parliamentary election, Iraq has still no government as politicians continue to bicker over who will lead. The impasse has raised fears that militants will exploit the political vacuum to re-ignite sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007. …
All U.S. combat units are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of next month and the last American soldier by the end of next year.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 18, 2009
Iraqi police stand guard over two men alleged to have links to an attack on a U.S. military base that killed three American soldiers in Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, July 18, 2009. (Photo credit: The Associated Press / Nabil Jurani)
Iraq Imposes New Limits on U.S.
One-year retrospective: One year ago today, IÂ reported that Iraq’s top commanders told their U.S. counterparts to “stop all joint patrols” in Baghdad, raising fresh concerns about the safety of U.S. troops in Iraq.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 18, 2008
In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock, shown here on Oct. 9, 2008 in New York, has run out of digits. The “1.†has been moved left to the space once occupied solely by the digital dollar sign. A non-digital, improvised dollar sign has been pasted next to the “1.” Below the amount of the national debt on the clock is another row of figures: “YOUR Family share.” As of Oct. 11, 2008, the $86,019 fit properly into the respective LCD squares. (Photo credit: Bebeto Matthews / AP file)
On the Campaign Trail: Day Four
Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the fourth day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I explained my guiding principle of “traditional conservatism.”Â
What is a Traditional Conservative?
Commenting on my 2008 primary campaign slogan, “Restoring Traditional Conservative Values,” Eric Zaetsch of the blog Developers are Crabgrass challenged me to define what I mean by the concept and how I feel incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann has strayed from those values:
Clearly Immelman must speak for himself in this, but in this post I will mention “The Speech” and Reagan and Goldwater, as a start to where I would hope the GOP debate in the Sixth District might focus — what are traditional conservative values and how in coming days Bachmann and Immelman may, for voters, define their differing and overlapping views on that question. That is how we must expect them to define themselves in comparison to each other.
To start that debate, I present three excerpts from W. J. Wilczek’s exposition on “Traditional Conservative vs. Neoconservative.”
A traditional conservative is for limited government: “That government is best that governs least.” Under the neoconservatives, there has been the greatest increase in the size of the federal government …Â in the history of the nation. …
A traditional conservative is for a balanced budget. Under the neoconservatives, we have gone from surpluses to the largest deficits in our history. …
A traditional conservative is against engaging in foreign entanglements [except] in defense of the nation from attack by our enemies. …
To conclude, my notion of traditional conservative values fundamentally involves small government, fiscal restraint, and a strong military focused primarily on national defense, not nation-building or preemptive war.
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