[Marxism] A new surge

[Louis Proyect]

NY Times, March 24, 2008
At Least 51 Die in Attacks Across Iraq
By ERICA GOODE

BAGHDAD — The shelling started just before 6 a.m., mortar fire 
shaking buildings and sending early risers in the Green Zone here 
running for shelter. Sirens went off, and loudspeakers blared, "Duck 
and cover! Duck and cover!" A thick column of gray smoke rose above 
the embassies and government buildings in the area.

The early morning onslaught on Sunday was one of the fiercest and 
most sustained attacks on the Green Zone in the past year, and it 
ushered in a day of violence that claimed the lives of at least 51 
Iraqi civilians and soldiers, including two children.

Philip T. Reeker, a spokesman for the American Embassy, said the 
mortar attacks had caused "no deaths or major injuries" within the 
Green Zone. He noted that for security reasons, American officials do 
not release details of such attacks. But one mortar shell fell short 
of the zone and landed in the Bab al-Sharji neighborhood in central 
Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others, according to 
Iraq's Interior Ministry. Another fell in the Karrada near the house 
of Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi, but no casualties were reported, 
the Iraqi police said.

Witnesses said that the mortar shells — from 6 to 10, according to 
different accounts — were fired from Baladyat, a Shiite neighborhood 
in eastern Baghdad.

Several more volleys of mortar fire aimed toward the Green Zone 
followed during the day, including a series of intense blasts just 
before 8:30 p.m.

One mortar round landed on the west bank of the Tigris, just outside 
the Green Zone wall, igniting a large brush fire.

American military officials have in the past blamed such attacks on 
Shiite militia factions or "special groups" that have received 
backing from Iran. The factions are thought to be splinter groups 
within the Mahdi Army militia founded by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.

Last month, Mr. Sadr announced the extension of a cease-fire begun 
last year and said that he would not tolerate any violations of the order.

In the Shuala area of western Baghdad on Sunday, a bomb in a parked 
car exploded, killing six and wounding at least 10. The explosion 
tore through the neighborhood's main street of houses and shops.

"We were having our lunch inside the restaurant when we heard a big 
sound of explosion which broke the front glass of shop," said Abbas 
Qasim, 38, the owner of a store on the street.

" I almost suffocated while I was eating and when I got out, I saw 
four cars burning," he said. "One of them was a van carrying students 
who just got back from the university. I rushed to help them with 
some locals but five of them were already dead and riddled with shrapnel."

Ali Mahmoud, 45, said that the explosion was the first in the 
neighborhood in two years.

"The American war planes were shelling most of the area all last 
night because of the Madhi Army," he said. "This car bomb is a 
message for us because our neighborhood is dominated by the Mahdi Army."

Violence also struck the Zafaraniya neighborhood, in the southern 
part of the capital, where gunmen in three cars opened fire on 
pedestrians, killing seven and wounding 16.

In the north of Iraq, a suicide bomber in a truck smashed through a 
barrier of armored vehicles in front of an Iraqi Army garrison in the 
al-Haramat neighborhood of Mosul. The bomb, when it detonated, killed 
12 soldiers and wounded 42 other soldiers and civilians.

The wounded, American military officials said, "were evacuated to 
local medical facilities for treatment or treated on-site."

American forces also reported killing "12 terrorists," after they 
attacked ground troops east of Baquba.

In a statement, the military said that American troops had ordered 
the occupants of a building to come outside.

"Some complied but others remained inside," the statement said. 
"Coalition forces entered the building and were fired upon by several 
armed men."

The statement said that six of the men who were killed had shaved the 
hair off their bodies, which, the military said, was consistent "with 
final preparation for suicide operations."

But an official of the Baquba police said that American war planes 
had shelled the house, which belonged to Khudhaier Salem, a prominent 
senior figure in the region, killing 13 and wounding nine, including 
people in neighboring houses.

Also in Baquba, two children were killed when they picked up an 
improvised explosive device, police officials said.