As pointed out over at BlackFive, the Parliament building, despite what has been reported in the news, is NOT IN THE GREEN ZONE.
Everything else stands. [End Update]
[Update] Some say it IS in the Green Zone, others say it is not. Since I am not there, I cannot say with certainty one way or another.
[End Update]
For those that like to claim al-Qaeda is not the major problem in Iraq.
Time in partnership with CNN's headline reads "The Iraq Parliament Attack: Al-Qaeda Sends a Message."
In an assault apparently aimed at chilling negotiations between the Iraqi government and a faction of the insurgency, the Iraqi Parliament, located in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, suffered a bomb attack. An official at the Ministry of the Interior told TIME that the bomber was wearing a suicide vest and was a guard for one of the members of parliament. The blast went off just after 2 p.m. on Thursday at the cafe in the central atrium of the building just outside the main hall where politicians, staff and journalists often meet for a cup of tea or a plate of food from a buffet spread. Early reports say at least two people were killed and a dozen wounded, but the toll is expected to rise.
The metal detectors at the entrance to the Baghdad Convention Center, where Parliament is housed, were not operating Thursday, said the Interior Ministry official, who was suspicious of a wider plot. Two weeks ago, Coalition forces found two suicide vests inside the Green Zone and there was speculation about the presence of a third in the area.
Within an hour of the explosion, a message from the al-Qaeda-controlled Islamic State in Iraq was posted on a prominent militant website, muslm.net, calling the blast a "message" to anyone who cooperates with "the occupier and its agents." It said ominously, "We will reach you wherever you are"
The extremists want to stop efforts of reconciliation between the Iraqi government and an Iraqi-led, nationalist faction of the insurgency that has turned on al-Qaeda in recent weeks.
From Forbes.com we see that the Iraqi parliament is going to hold an extraordinary session tomorrow to condemn this terrorist attack and "challenge terrorism".
BAGHDAD (Thomson Financial) - Iraq's parliament will hold an extraordinary session tomorrow to condemn 'terrorism' following a suicide bombing that killed three people including at least two MPs, the speaker said.
'The parliament will hold a session tomorrow as a challenge to terrorism,' Sunni speaker Mahmud Mashhadani told state television Al-Iraqiya after today's attack.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned the suicide attack inside Iraq's parliament building as a 'criminal and cowardly act' and vowed such violence would not weaken MPs' resolve.
'We strongly condemn this criminal and cowardly attack, and this mean act will not weaken the will of the representatives of the Iraqi people,' Maliki said in a statement issued by his office.
I have to admit, I have not been sure of al-Maliki, but since he has been in his position for less than a year, I figured it would take time to see what he was really made of.
Guy has guts, I will give him that.
'Terrorist gangs committed a heinous crime resulting in the martyrdom and injuries of some deputies,' the statement from his office said.
'This crime confirms that the terrorists are targeting people through their representatives and they want to abort the democratic experience and hinder the political process' of Iraq.
Anyone still want to claim that al-Qaeda isn't as dangerous as we have been told?
Wizbang's theory about this:
The audience here wasn't just the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government. The terrorists know the Democrats want us out bad, so this attack was also meant to panic the Dems to get them to increase the pressure on President Bush and expedite their efforts to get our troops out of Iraq. Of course, the Democrats will fall for it.
Of course they will!!! No one doubts that.
Hot Air has the video as well as constant updates.
Some reports say two are dead, others say three and one report says 8, so, I will update when the actual verifiable number comes out.
From Reuters:
US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is on a trip to the Far East, condemned the attack, which Caldwell blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
I point out the Reuters article specifically because of that last line "Caldwell blamed on Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda"-----
The reason i point this out is the phrasing, Reuters tries to imply that it is Caldwell blaming al-Qaeda when the FACT is that (as pointed out above) ---Within an hour of the explosion, a message from the al-Qaeda-controlled Islamic State in Iraq was posted on a prominent militant website, muslm.net, calling the blast a "message" to anyone who cooperates with "the occupier and its agents." It said ominously, "We will reach you wherever you are"----
As you can see from memeorandum there are quite a few articles about this as well as opinions from the blogosphere.
al-Qaeda doesn't like that all factions of Iraq have been turning against them, if they think this will endear themselves to the Iraqi people, they have miscalculated.
Terrorism is an act of cowardice, when you cannot fight toe to toe with your opponent you start killing innocent people to play to the media.
Playing to the media has been part of al-Qaeda's MO for as long as I can remember hearing about them.
Maybe Nancy Pelosi can shuttle on over to Afghanistan and meet with Bin Laden and tell him how she understands he and al-Qaeda has been criminalized and she understands he is really a good guy getting bad publicity and that she also understands that al-Qaeda members are misunderstood?
Updates will continue as verifiable news comes out.
Tracked back by:
A tough day in Iraq. from The Crimson Blog...
Iraqi Lawmaker: "United Together Against Terrorism" from The Sandbox...
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