[BITList] An Olympic Moment from Iraq

[John Feltham]

From another Forum.



Sarah Palin can say more stupid things in a minute than even Dan Quayle could.

But the other day, on whether the US should intervene in various Middle East scenarios, she said "No, let Allah decide."

Well, Allah has an explosive sense of humor.

The coach of the Iraqi Bombsled team had was able to simulate an erupting Mt. Olympus when it was volcanic.




Suicide Bomb Instructor Accidentally Kills Iraqi Pupils

By DURAID ADNAN FEB. 10, 2014

BAGHDAD — A group of Sunni militants attending a suicide bombing
training class at a camp north of Baghdad were killed on Monday when
their commander unwittingly conducted a demonstration with a belt that
was packed with explosives, army and police officials said.

The militants belonged to a group known as the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria, or ISIS, which is fighting the Shiite-dominated army of the
Iraqi government, mostly in Anbar Province. But they are also linked to
bomb attacks elsewhere and other fighting that has thrown Iraq deeper
into sectarian violence.

Twenty-two ISIS members were killed, and 15 were wounded, in the
explosion at the camp, which is in a farming area in the northeastern
province of Samara, according to the police and army officials. Stores of
other explosive devices and heavy weapons were also kept there, the
officials said.

Eight militants were arrested when they tried to escape, the officials

said.
The militant who was conducting the training was not identified by
name, but he was described by an Iraqi Army officer as a prolific recruiter
who was “able to kill the bad guys for once.”

ISIS militants drove into Falluja and the nearby city of Ramadi, both
in Anbar Province, earlier this year with heavy weaponry, taking control of
key intersections and offices of local authorities.

Local security forces and tribes have since re-established control in
Ramadi.

But Iraq is developing a plan, with help from the United States, that
would have Sunni tribes take the lead in ending the standoff with ISIS in
Falluja, with the Iraqi Army in support, a senior State Department official
told Congress last week.

The official, Brett McGurk, said that ISIS had about 2,000 fighters in
Iraq, and that its longer-term objective is to establish a base of operations
in Baghdad, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been officially
designated as a global terrorist by the State Department.

In other violence in Iraq, a roadside bomb detonated in the northern
city of Mosul alongside the convoy of the speaker of Parliament, the Sunni
leader Osama al-Nujaifi, security officials said. Six of his guards were
wounded, but Mr. Nujaifi was unharmed, they said.

In Baghdad, a doctor was found dead with bullet wounds in his head
and chest two days after he was kidnapped from his house, medical
officials said.

In the Baya district of southwestern Baghdad, a bomb left near a cafe
killed four people and wounded 11, according to a police official. 




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20140211/5284e1ca/attachment.htm