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DEL.ICIO.USBombings in Tal Afar
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tal Afar, Iraq — Two thundering booms shattered the afternoon lull here today.
The metal containerized housing units at Forward Operating base Sykes shook, the earth underneath rumbled. I had not felt a blast like that since last year when I spent months at Camp Liberty in western Baghdad.
Two truck bombs exploded five minutes apart in markets at Tal Afar. The Associated Press reported that 48 people died here and another 103 were wounded.
One of the trucks was detonated by remote control while people gathered to buy the flour it was carrying in a central Shiite neighborhood, the AP reported. The other truck was loaded with vegetables and parked near a wholesale market, not far from a primary school that was closed for the day.
Witnesses said the “body parts were thrown to the ground and the walls and vegetables were scattered in pools of blood.”
It was the second attack here in four days — a suicide bomber killed 10 people at a pastry shop in a Sunni neighborhood Saturday.
This northern Iraqi city near the Syrian border has been relatively quiet in the last few months, so the bombings jolted the soldiers stationed at Sykes, which sits just outside Tal Afar.
In Baghdad, such bombs are so disturbingly regular that soldiers on the base would hardly notice the booms.
Today’s bombings were a wake-up call here for those not accustomed to hearing loud noises. Some wondered whether they should be heading for bunkers.
Atlanta-based Company H, 121st Infantry (ABN)(LRS) soldiers were put on alert to head out to Tal Afar but in the end, were not not part of the “quick reaction force” that the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment sent out.
The U.S. military tried to make its presence known after bloody attacks like this to calm the fears of residents, most of whom are Turkomen.
But how do you calm a grieving mother? How do you erase the chilling images of today that residents will forever keep in their minds?
A year ago, President Bush hailed this city, about 60 percent Sunni and 40 percent Shiite, as a model for improved security in Iraq. And just yesterday, a group of Georgia soldiers spoke to me about how lucky they were to be in this part of Iraq.
Tonight, however, they might be thinking differently.
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By J.E. Olivarez
March 29, 2007 12:00 PM | Link to this
VOTE OF BETRAYAL Once again the Democrats in the Congress have proven to the American people that they are not on America’s side when it comes to fighting and winning a war. The Democrats in the United States Congress have chosen to try and tie the hands of the President and the American fighting man by voting to give the enemy a timetable for victory in Iraq! The Democrats in Congress have shown the American people they do not have the backbone to defeat the Radical Islamist Jihadist terrorists who want to terrorize the Middle East and gain a victory in Iraq, where they can launch their murderous atrocities not only against the Iraqi people who remain, but against neighboring Middle East countries and their real goal, the annihilation of Israel and terrorist attacks on the American mainland. The Democrats in the Congress have demonstrated to the American people and our troops, and the entire world that they certainly are not the type of people to have in power in the Congress of the United States in time of war! The Democrats have shown repeatedly that they do not have the will nor resolve to win the war against enemies of the United States. The entire world cannot be allowed to see the United States, the most powerful nation on the planet cut down at the knees by Democrats in the Congress who lack the courage to support America and our military in winning the war in Iraq. The Democrats have undermined our troops by showing them with a vote of cowardice that they do not support them nor have confidence in them to win a war against terrorists that wants America destroyed. Never in American history have Democrats shown such cowardice as they have in this Congress to not only plead for votes to deny our brave American fighting men the funds necessary to equip them, but to bleed them slowly by slowing the funds down and using dirty tactics such as loading the Bill with unnecessary pork so as to have the President to have no choice but to Veto it. The Democrats have also chosen to telegraph the enemy with a “Surrender Date” in 2008!
The partisan Democrats in Congress have done our country and our military a great disservice! Their performance in the Congress has shown the American people and the entire world, including our enemies that they are spineless and can be easily manipulated to abandon America and are willing to commit treason by raising the white flag of surrender to the enemy. The coward Democrats in Congress are trying their best to sabotage America from winning the war against the enemy. The Democrats in the Congress apparently do not know or even care that America does not surrender. They forget the great history by which our great country was founded and its freedom maintained for over two hundred fifty years! The courage of our great leaders who never, ever surrendered or allowed our flag to fall into enemy hands. The courage of military leaders when everything seemed at its darkness and things seemed impossible were able to achieve victory. Their cries “SURRENDER HELL! WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT”! DON’T TREAD ON ME! , “DON’T SHOOT UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES” and the cry of Sam Houston’s army at San Jacinto ”REMEMBER THE ALAMO”! These were cries of inspiration to our great men in uniform that sustained them and gave them Victory! Not Surrender!
The Democrats in the Congress have shown they are cowards in the face of the enemy! Their despicable actions in the halls of Congress are jeopardizing America’s stature in the free world! The coward Democrats in Congress are sending a bad signal to all of America’s allies and enemies that we are a weak country who cannot be depended upon to keep its commitments to help other countries in the free world. There is only one way to describe the Democrats in Congress, Cowards and Traitors! The enemy within! The coward Democrats in Congress are a mockery to the proud saying of American patriots, “AMERICA! HOME OF THE BRAVE”