Some Iraqi soldiers are now expressing an eagerness to see U.S. troops stay past a Dec. 31 deadline. Underscoring their belief that security concerns warrant the extension, at least 17 Iraqis were killed dead and 148 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, secret memos are revealing to the public a link between oil companies and British officials in the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
In Baghdad, a pair of suicide bombers detonated two carloads of explosives at the western entrance to the Green Zone. At least 11 people were killed and 19 others were wounded in the early morning bombing. Police believe the bombers were targeting a military commander, while parliament’s speaker believes at least one bomber was targeting his adviser. Because mostly Iraqis use the checkpoint, no foreign casualties were reported or are expected.
Elsewhere in the capital, a blast in the Adhamiya neighborhood wounded six people, including a former Iraqi Governing Council member. A heist in Amin left three goldsmiths dead; afterwards, civilians killed one of the gunmen. A policeman was wounded in an attack on a Karrada checkpoint. Two roadside bombs wounded four in a Jadriya. Two liquor stores were bombed, but no casualties were reported. A large ammo cache was discovered in New Baghdad. A finance ministry official escaped a bombing unscathed.
Kurdish security forces wounded nine people using live ammunition during clashes with protesters in Suleimaniya. One person has died of unreported causes. Another 80 people were injured as well, including security personnel. This is the second day of intense clashes in the town, which has seen weeks of protests and some clashes. Witnesses claim the security forces are preventing them from voicing demands, but a spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan claimed the protesters had instigated the clashes. The actual number of wounded could be much higher as many of the injured declined hospital care for fear of arrest.
A chief of police in Arbil denied that any clashes occurred there today, but witnesses described a scene in which 22 people were injured, one of them a member of Kurdistan’s parliament.
While protesters in Iraqi Kurdistan were demanding better living conditions and an end to corruption, demonstrators in Mosul called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The Iraqi army prevented a delegation from Falluja from joining the protests.
A car bomb in Falluja wounded four people, including an off-duty army captain.
Three civilians were wounded in a double bombing in Ramadi yesterday.
A "governor" of the Islamic State of Iraq was handed a death sentence in court today.
