Terrorist attacks in Iraq

Terrorist attacks in Iraq. ..

Analysis
Is there such a thing as "terrorist attacks" in a "war zone"? Regardless of whether one sees the Iraq turmoil of 2003-2004 as between liberators and the liberated, or between invaders and the resistance, shouldn't "terrorism" apply to acts against peaceful non-aligned, uninvolved, innocent by-standers?

The marketing deception of the Bush regime depends upon keeping the terr'r in the face of his constituents, that they may feel the fear, and thereby trust in him for their protection. This tactic intentionally incorporates a Divine allusion.

Almost anything is now described as a "terrorist act", except of course the launching of missiles into a Mosque, in offensive prevention of yet another act in which the perpetrator willingly loses his life in defense of his homeland. It is the defensive, responsive, events which are referred to by the opressors, not only as "terrorist", but amazingly "cowardice".

Below are some examples of how fear is marketed by the Bush administration. The "terrorists" in these factful tales are those whom he has just spent the last year "liberating" in anticipation that they would welcome him with roses and chocolates. They are the indigenous people of the world's most ancient civilization, in the "fertile crescent" of human evolution, who just want him to go away and leave them alone.

Suicide Car Bombings
Also see Wikipedia article "Car bomb" for listing of "Mass car bombings" by date, including those in Iraq.


 * "Car Bombs Rip through Baghdad," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, June 17, 2003: "A civilian vehicle exploded in a neighborhood in northwest Baghdad on 16 June, killing one woman and a young girl, Reuters reported the same day. The cause of the explosion was not clear, but it reportedly occurred at an intersection where U.S. troops had dismantled a checkpoint just 30 minutes earlier. Another civilian vehicle was blown up in a tunnel in Baghdad on 16 June, the news agency reported. Early reports indicated that the likely cause of the latter blast was a land mine. Two Iraqis were wounded in that incident."
 * "U.S. expected car bombings in Iraq," CNN, August 19, 2003: "Fearing deadly car bomb attacks, U.S. forces in Iraq just weeks ago began erecting more barriers around potentially 'softer' nonmilitary targets."
 * "Foreigners are linked to Iraq car bombings," Houston Chronicle, October 23, 2003: "The Oct. 12 bombing killed eight people outside the [Baghdad] hotel, which housed U.S. intelligence officers, members of the Iraqi Governing Council and American contractors. Because the hotel was heavily fortified, the bomber was only able to get within 100 yards of the building, and most of those killed and injured were Iraqi guards and passers-by. ... Since early August, eight car bombings -- including attacks on the UN headquarters, the Jordanian and Turkish embassies, Iraqi police stations and the country's holiest Shia Muslim shrine -- have killed nearly 200 people. U.S. and Iraqi officials have not determined who committed the bombings, and no one has claimed responsibility for them. ... U.S. and Iraqi officials have consistently blamed the attacks on Saddam Hussein supporters or foreign Arab fighters linked to the al-Qaida network."
 * "Red Cross among targets in string of Iraq car bombings," AP, October 27, 2003: "Car bombers struck the international Red Cross headquarters and four police stations across Baghdad on Monday, killing about 40 people in a spree of destruction that terrorized the Iraqi capital on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. ... The string of bombings, all within less than an hour, was the bloodiest attack yet in the city of 5 million by insurgents targeting the American-led occupation and those perceived as working with it. It also appeared like a dramatic escalation in tactics -- in past weeks, bombers have carried out heavy suicide bombings, but in single strikes."
 * Jim Mannion, "Car bombings raise chances US has foreign adversaries in Iraq," AFP, October 28, 2003: "A wave of car bombings in Baghdad, showing a chilling new level of coordination, has raised the possibility that a new foreign adversary is stalking US-led forces in Iraq, officials said Tuesday. ... A rare and tantalizing bit of hard evidence of a foreign link to the suicide attacks surfaced Monday with the discovery of a Syrian passport on a man shot to death in a failed car bombing. ... US defense officials cautioned, however, that they do not have a clear understanding of who was behind the attacks or the relationship between loyalists of the former Baathist regime and the fighters that are believed to have entered the country in small numbers."
 * Howard LaFranchi and Dan Murphy, &quot;Iraq bomb targets US allies, patience. At least 16 Italians and eight Iraqis were killed by a suicide car bombing Wednesday in Nasiriyah,&quot; Christian Science Monitor, November 13, 2003.
 * "Six killed in Iraq car bombings," ABC News (Australia), November 21, 2003: "... and dozens wounded in two car bombings in Iraq."
 * "Suicide car bombings kill at least 18 Iraqis. Cargo plane leaving Baghdad airport damaged by SAM," CNN, November 22, 2003: "The bombings occurred a police stations north of Baghdad, and no coalition troops were injured in either attack."
 * John Burns, "15 killed in Iraq car bombings," The Age, November 23, 2003.
 * "Suicide Bomber Wounds 58 US Soldiers in Baghdad," Why War?, December 9, 2003.
 * Bob Edwards, "Two more car bombings in Iraq today," NPR, December 15, 2003: "There were two more car bombings in Iraq today, less than 24 hours after news of the capture of Saddam Hussein touched off celebrations in Baghdad and other parts of the country. Police stations were the targets of both of the latest bombings, the first in a village a few miles north of Baghdad and the second in the capital itself. At least eight people were killed, and more than a dozen others were wounded."
 * "Iraq hit by series of car bombings," World Tribune, January 18, 2004: "In what appears to mark a new offensive, Sunni insurgents have launched a series of lethal car bombings in the Iraqi capital. ... At least 20 people were killed on Sunday in two suicide car bombings in Iraq. Both attacks were said to have been conducted by Sunni insurgents. ... In the main attack, a suspicious vehicle tried to enter the main gate of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. The Land Cruiser was stopped at the gate and the driver detonated a huge bomb in his vehicle. ... At least 18 people were killed in the morning attack. U.S. officials said they included 16 Iraqis and two Americans - all of them civilians. Another 30 people were injured."
 * Scheherezade Faramarzi, "Car bomb in Mosul kills nine; 3 Americans killed by bomb," AP, January 31, 2004.
 * "Emerging face of al-Qaeda's man in Iraq," Sydney Morning Herald, February 11, 2004: "A bomber on the loose in Iraq may be the first hard link between al-Qaeda and a threatened civil war. US officials believe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian suspected of ties to the terrorist group, played a role in at least three car bombings in Iraq that have killed more than 100 people in the past six months."
 * Douglas Jehl, "Jordanian is suspected in 3 Iraq car bombings," New York Times, February 11, 2004.
 * Drew Brown, "Link seen in Iraq bombings. Jordanian was the mastermind, lawmakers told," Detroit Free Press, March 4, 2004: "The commander of U.S. military operations in the Middle East said Wednesday 'there is no doubt' that suspected Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi masterminded suicide bombings in Iraq on Tuesday that killed more than 140 people -- perhaps as many as 271 -- during a Shi'ite Muslim religious observance."
 * Matt Kelley, &quot;US feared car bomb attack,&quot; AP, April 1, 2004: "Fearing deadly car bomb attacks, US forces in Iraq began erecting more barriers around 'softer' non-military targets just weeks ago. ... But UN officials in Iraq decided on a lower level of security to provide a more welcoming image to Iraqis, American military officials said. ... A cement truck filled with about 225kg of C4 military explosives detonated just outside a newly built, 3.6m security wall around the UN compound. The wall was about 15m away from the UN building at the site of the blast. ... The attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad and an earlier bombing outside the Jordanian embassy show the difficulty in preventing such bombings, even when some security measures are in place."
 * Abbas Fayadh, "Suicide Car Bombs Kill 68 in Basra, Iraq," AP, April 21, 2004: "Five suicide attackers detonated car bombs against police buildings during rush hour Wednesday in this British-controlled southern Iraqi city, killing 68 people, including 16 children burned to death in their passing school buses. ... Bombers simultaneously detonated four cars packed with missiles and TNT just after 7 a.m. in front of three police stations -- one of them next to Basra's main street market -- and a police academy. An hour later another car bomb went off outside the police academy, located in Zubair, a suburb of mainly Shiite Basra."
 * Karl Vick, Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Fred Barbash, "Five Car Bombs Leave Scores Dead in Basra. More Than 200 Injured in Attacks; Marines Come Under Attack in Fallujah," Washington Post, April 21, 2004.
 * Abbas Fayadh, "Coalition Unsure Who's Behind Iraq Blasts," AP, April 22, 2004.

Suicide Boat Bombings

 * "Iraq oil terminal still closed after attacks. Country is losing nearly 1 million barrels a day in exports," AP, April 25, 2004: "Suicide boat bombings targeting the key oil industry have forced the closure of Iraq's biggest terminal, losing the country nearly 1 million barrels a day in exports, the oil minister said Sunday."

Beatings & Physical Attacks

 * Mariam Fam, "Brutal deaths of U.S. soldiers shocked few," CNews (Canada), November 24, 2003: "The killings of two U.S. soldiers, who witnesses said were dragged from their car and pummelled with rocks, offended some in this neighbourhood of dilapidated houses and potholed streets where the deaths occurred. But few Iraqis were shocked by the brutality, and some even gloated."

Ordnance Attacks

 * "Suicide car bombings kill at least 18 Iraqis. Cargo plane leaving Baghdad airport damaged by SAM," CNN, November 22, 2003: "...a surface-to-air-missile hit a courier plane shortly after it took off from Baghdad airport, military sources said, but the damaged plane was able to return to the airport."
 * Thomas E. Ricks and Rajiv Chandrasekaran, "Shelling Kills 22 Prisoners In Iraq. 90 Others Are Injured; Attack Motive Unclear," Washington Post, April 21, 2004: "The U.S. military said those killed in the 18-shell barrage were either former members of Saddam Hussein's government or people involved in attacks on American forces."

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Fallout

 * James Glanz, "Violence in Iraq Forces 2 Big Contractors to Curb Work," New York Times, April 22, 2004: "...General Electric and Siemens, to suspend most of their operations there, raising new doubts about the American-led effort to rebuild the country as hostilities continue."

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SourceWatch Resources

 * coalition of the willing: beginning of the end
 * counterterrorism
 * Iraqi sovereignty: June 30, 2004
 * Iraqi unified resistance
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Two
 * Private Military Corporations
 * Shiite Muslim uprising in Iraq