Car bomb kills dozens in Kirkuk Market on heels of US Withdrawal

by albertacowpoke | June 30, 2009 at 07:00 pm

199 views | 34 Recommendations | 10 comments

Today was the day that American troops withdrew from cities and towns in Iraq and estabilished themselves in the Iraqi countryside.

No longer were American troops to be seen, helicopters no longer buzzed the skies. Iraqi Security Forces had taken over the responsibility and safety of the country. Iraq is on its way to become a sovereign nation.

The fledgling Democracy was tested tonight as a car bomb exploded in a market in Kirkuk, a city 290 km North of Baghdad. The bombing happened close to midnight. The attack killed at least 33 people.

On June 20th the same market was attacked and 82 people were killed. The attack bore the marks of Al Quaida and Sunni extremists.

Iraqui troops can protect country after U.S. withdrawals: al-Maliki

BAGHDAD – Not a single American soldier was in sight. Gone, too, were the American helicopters whose buzz has for years defined Baghdad's background track.

Left alone to protect the capital today were thousands of Iraqi troops and police manning checkpoints, with army tanks deployed at potential trouble spots and convoys of pickup trucks with machine-guns roaming the streets.

But it was elsewhere, 290 kilometres to the north, that militants delivered their first deadly challenge to Iraq's security forces on a highly symbolic day after the formal withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities at midnight.

A car bombing devastated a food market in the city of Kirkuk, killing at least 33 people and wounding 90. The early evening attack, which bore the hallmarks of Sunni extremist groups like al-Qaida in Iraq, was the second in the Kirkuk area since a truck bombing killed 82 people on June 20.

That car bomb in Kirkuk reminds us that this may all be wishful thinking a hemisphere removed from the truth.
After all, Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. No, he didn't. Iraqis would welcome their American liberators. No, they didn't. Iraq is ungovernable and should be split in three. No, it isn't, and not necessarily. The surge will never work. Yes, it did. The future of Iraq can be foreseen. No, it can't.

But in the United States, reasonable Democrats and Republicans agree that the current policy on Iraq is the correct policy, that troops should increasingly focus on training Iraqi security forces to take over the job, and that the mission should end in 2011, leaving a small residual force for as long as the Iraqis want it there. This is called bipartisan consensus.

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Paschen

at 19:39 on June 30th, 2009

This is so infuriating. Iraq knew no terrorism until the US invasion and was moving towards reforms already due to the pressures under wish SH fund him self.

Roy C

at 21:10 on June 30th, 2009

Knew no terrorism? What about the gassing of the Kurds by Saddam, or the torture of their own citizens by Saddam's forces, or his sons' rape rooms?

Sounds like terrorism to me.

Amitjha

at 23:51 on June 30th, 2009

Why Iraqi people do not understand the simple thing that killing is innocents is not going to help anyone.

Saeed Shiekh (not verified)

at 02:05 on July 1st, 2009

similar bombs have been placed in pakistan where I reside. and i have seen people die on the streets many of times. question is dont the people who sacrifice thier lives have children and loved ones? who creates hate to a point of no return? who allows for hatred come to a point where people are ready to blow up innocent people? is this what is left of humanity?

desouza (not verified)

at 02:51 on July 1st, 2009

I dont know what they get by killing the innocent people.

Paschen

at 03:49 on July 1st, 2009

Roy the US and Turkey did Give it their blessing at the time and the US supplied the Gas.

Saddam was the US best Friend in the Middle east as well as Turkeys after that monstrosity.

The US Trained Saddam let him do their dirty work against Iran and Kurd insurrection since Turkey is a key ally and did not like the Kurds to be able to move across the borders back and forth and demand independence.

It is all well documented and can be fund in UN archives. The trial of Saddam was a joke his defence called for key US and Turkish witnesses to be interviewed those request where denied to Saddam for his defence would have incriminated some top US politician and military that where just as responsible.

And if this is your definition of Terrorism then the US are most definitely guilty of it as would be many other including Russia, China and Israel.

Roy C

at 08:39 on July 1st, 2009

You forgot Japan and Japan's terrorism, which is necessary to play the victim.

Paschen, the Shiites and the Sunnis have been killing each other for more than a thousand years. All the present "terrorism" inside Iraq is traceable to this conflict.

The Kurds have no terrorism, and I want to see some documentation about the gas.

The chief arms dealer for Iraq was Russia and that is why it was so easy to defeat his Russian-trained and Russian-supplied army of obvious inferiority.

Amy Judd

at 19:23 on June 30th, 2009

So sad - it seems like there are so many stories like this lately.

albertacowpoke

at 19:34 on June 30th, 2009

This will be a test for the Iraqi Security Forces. Hopefully they can respond and make their country safe.

albertacowpoke

at 02:54 on July 1st, 2009

Thank you all for your comments. Let's just hope that rational thought will prevail, that the Iraqi security forces are ready to face this test and that they can contain the insurgents.