“A Bloody Message from Iraq”

Nowhere is safe, says Patrick Cockburn in The Independent.

“Insurgents struck in the heart of the (Iraq’s) Green Zone yesterday, one of the most heavily defended places in Baghdad. The symbolism – and the bloody message – was clear with this attack on the home to the US-imposed democracy.

“A suicide bomber cleared at least eight rings of security to blow himself up in the Iraqi parliament, killing eight people including three lawmakers as they were eating lunch. It was the most deadly attack mounted from within the Green Zone.

“In a separate attack, the Iraqi capital was cut in two as one of the main bridges over the Tigris was blown up earlier in the day.

“The 275-member Iraqi parliament meets on the first floor of a cavernous building, originally built by Saddam Hussein to hold meetings of Islamic nations. Immediately outside the assembly hall is a restaurant. It was there, beside the cash register, that the bomber blew himself up.

“The sensitivity of the US and the Iraqi government to the breach in security was apparent because all television cameras and video tapes showing the immediate aftermath of the blast were confiscated and handed to US authorities…”

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“If and when the US abandons Iraq, this day will mark the beginning of that end…” says another leading article. Click here to read…