BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 24 – A suicide car bomb exploded Thursday near an American convoy at the entrance to the main hospital in the volatile town of Mahmudiya, killing at least 30 Iraqis and wounding dozens of others in a burst of fire and shrapnel.
At least 15 other Iraqis died Thursday, including the police commander of Mahmudiya, while 5 American soldiers were reported killed in three separate incidents over the last two days.
Even by the violent standards of this war, the bombing in Mahmudiya was particularly vicious, taking place outside a hospital as visitors and the sick were coming and going. The blast flung bystanders and body parts through the air and shattered the facades of buildings for blocks around. Policemen and Iraqi Army soldiers quickly sealed off the town’s main streets while American helicopters circled the scene of carnage.
So overwhelmed were the doctors in the area that the most seriously wounded, including some people with limbs missing, had to be transported 30 miles north to Baghdad for treatment.
Should the US draw down or keep it up?
My answer is here.
It may surprise…