Iraqi Maj. Gen Qassem Atta watches a video confession aired during a press conference in Baghdad (AFP)Alleged Iraq bombers offer confessions
Three jailed suspects in Oct. 25 bombings that killed more than 150 people in Iraq said they filmed the targeted buildings before the attack and escorted the car bombs in a convoy into Baghdad, according to confessions shown on Iraqi television Sunday. The men, who were seated and wearing orange jumpsuits while speaking in custody, introduced themselves as members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
Iraqi prime minister organizes TV confessions accusing Baathists of terrorism
While the Kurdish autonomous region in the north is encroaching on Iraqi territorial unity, the prime minister in Baghdad is launching a media campaign to counter the Vice President's attempts to reintegrate the mainly Sunni Arab displaced citizens of Iraq. Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government staged an appearance on state TV of three men, clad in prison clothes, who confessed their alleged role in planning suicide attacks in Baghdad last month.
Iraq says October 25 bombers came from Syria: spokesman
Iraq on Sunday for the first time said that the bombers who killed more than 150 people in Baghdad on October 25 came from neighbouring Syria, but steered well clear of accusing Damascus of collusion. "The group came from Syria but we are not accusing Syria again," said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on state television.
Iraq PM ramps up attacks on Baathists before vote
A stepped-up campaign by Iraq's prime minister against Saddam Hussein loyalists is alienating Sunni Muslims and stoking tensions between them and the majority Shiites ahead of key national elections. In its latest anti-Baathist attack, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government put three men on state television Sunday to confess their alleged role in planning suicide attacks in Baghdad last month. The three, all in detention and dressed in orange prison jumpsuits, said the bombings were ordered by Saddam's Baath Party.
Analysis: Voting With Bombs
Terrorism in Iraq has become the continuation of politics by other means. That came into sharp relief with last month’s bombing of three government buildings here by two suicide truck bombers. It was probably no accident that they chose to strike just as Iraq’s leaders had bogged down on attempts to draft an election law.
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Nov 22
GARMA - A suicide car bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint, killing one policeman and wounding seven people, including three policemen, in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
QAIM - Police shot dead a suicide truck bomber as he approached a police station in the town of Qaim, 300 km (185 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. Police managed to dismantle the vehicle without any casualties.
BAGHDAD - A police colonel died of wounds sustained when gunmen opened fire on him while he drove in southern Baghdad's Saidiya district on Saturday, police said. His son was also wounded in the attack.
MOSUL - A roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi soldiers in western Mosul on Saturday, police said.
In 3 Tacks for Afghan War, a Game of Trade-Offs
Should President Obama decide to send 40,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan, the most ambitious plan under consideration at the White House, the military would have enormous flexibility to deploy as many as 15,000 troops to the Taliban center of gravity in the south, 5,000 to the critical eastern border with Pakistan and 10,000 as trainers for the Afghan security forces.
Pakistan to US: Don't surge in Afghanistan, talk to Taliban
The Pakistani government has some advice the Obama administration may not want to hear as it contemplates sending additional US troops to neighboring Afghanistan: Negotiate with Taliban leaders and restrain India. Pakistan embraces US efforts to stabilize the region and worries that a hasty US withdrawal would create chaos. But Pakistani officials worry that thousands of additional American soldiers and Marines would send Taliban forces retreating into Pakistan, where they're not welcome.
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