Deadly Baghdad bombings against Shiite as they vow to lay down arms and join political process:

Deadly Baghdad bombings fuel sectarian conflict: At least 25 people are reported to have been killed and dozens wounded in bomb attacks in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad. The blasts are further evidence of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq.

There were four separate explosions. Two car bombs in the capital’s Kadhimiya district left 15 people dead. In Sadr city a roadside bomb and a device planted on a motorbike killed a further 10 people. Police say they found and defused two other bombs. Since the departure of US troops, Iraq appears to have fallen into a political and security crisis.

Attacks targeting Shiites kill 72 in Iraq: A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people on Thursday, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December. The coordinated attacks targeting Shiites bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Iraqi official: Shiite militia will lay down arms and join political process: An Iranian-backed Shiite militia that carried out deadly attacks on U.S. troops has agreed to lay down its arms and join the political process, the Iraqi official in charge of reconciling with the country’s armed groups said Friday.

A senior member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq said in an interview this week that the group wants to ally with other Shiite groups to run in provincial and parliamentary elections, but he did not say the group would disarm completely. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the group’s plans. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or Band of the Righteous, is an armed group the split off from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s own political movement that was formed to fight the American presence in Iraq. Time will tell but this is great if true but totally unexpected. Maybe Iraq can avoid the civil war I have long thought Bush guaranteed.

I certainly hope it works out in Iraq. I for one since day one have thought Bush ignored good advice that at the very least there would be a civil war. That is not to ignore the fact that it was an illigal war or that Bush created 200 million immigrants both internal and external and Iraq can still not supply the basic needs of humanity and Saddam Hussen did. The 2 million permanent Iraqi nomads President Bush created must not be forgotten



James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com