Deadly Baghdad blasts raise specter of security
President Obama has promised an American troop withdrawal from Iraq by 2011. And Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki has wholeheartedly supported that timeline - building his political credibility on keeping the country secure in the absence of American troops.
And now this: Two car bombs in Baghdad have killed over 160 and wounded over 500.
Mr. Maliki is running for re-election in January and security is issue number one for the Iraqi people. If these attacks are followed by more violence he'll have a hard time making the case that he's the right leader for an American-troop-less Iraq. But if Maliki loses - would whoever takes his place be able to improve security or would the cycle of violence continue? And for President Obama - will an Iraq returning to the violence of 2006 and 2007 really allow for him to complete a troop withdrawal in the next two years?
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And now this: Two car bombs in Baghdad have killed over 160 and wounded over 500.
The bombers apparently passed through multiple security checkpoints before detonating their vehicles within a minute of each other, leaving at least 155 dead and about 500 wounded strewn across crowded downtown streets. Blast walls had been moved back off the road in front of both buildings in recent weeks.
It was the deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq since the summer of 2007 and happened just blocks from where car bombers killed at least 122 people at the Foreign and Finance Ministries in August, in the continuation of a focused attempt by insurgents to strike at the government’s most critical functions.
Mr. Maliki is running for re-election in January and security is issue number one for the Iraqi people. If these attacks are followed by more violence he'll have a hard time making the case that he's the right leader for an American-troop-less Iraq. But if Maliki loses - would whoever takes his place be able to improve security or would the cycle of violence continue? And for President Obama - will an Iraq returning to the violence of 2006 and 2007 really allow for him to complete a troop withdrawal in the next two years?
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- 7 stories you missed this week: Goldman Sachs jerk, threats to Obama, Andy Garcia as Saakashvili and swine flu in Iraq
- Rage Against Guantanamo - Rage Against the Machine, REM, Pearl Jam and more call for Gitmo closure
- US police make massive Mexican drug cartel bust
- Defining 'dithering' - Dick Cheney accuses President Obama of wasting time
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