THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

The NY Times today does a follow up to yesterdays market blast in Baghdad that killed at least 131 people. Many of the locals are blaming Our Dear Embattled Leader's surge for it because it drove the Mahdi Army away from the checkpoints that would have protected the people.

“The terrorists chose this spot three months ago and again yesterday so they could kill as many people as possible,” said Mr. Kaabi, a Shiite from Sadr City. “Trucks are not even allowed in the small alleys of the market. I wonder how the truck made it in.”

It was a question that traveled through much of Baghdad today, in the wake of the deadliest single bomb blast since the American invasion in 2003. Shiites in particular came prepared with an answer. They said the looming American-Iraqi security plan for Baghdad had weakened the Mahdi army, the Shiite militia loyal to the militant cleric Moktada Al-Sadr, emasculating the Shiites’ only reliable source of security.

Instead of making the city safer, they said, recent American efforts have opened Shiite areas to bombs that have left more than 450 dead since Jan. 16.

“A long time has passed since the plan was announced,” Basim Shareef, a Shiite member of Parliament, said today. “But so far there security has only deteriorated.”

An American military official, responding to the Shiite accusations, said that American checkpoints around eastern and central Baghdad last October seemed to reduce the number of car bombs until the checkpoints were removed because of objections from Sadr officials and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal Al-Maliki. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the American military spokesman in Iraq, called for patience as the new security plan rolls out.

“Give the government and coalition forces a chance to fully implement it,” he told news agencies.

Give it a chance, Give it time. It seems that this is a standard whine from the Bushoviks. And every time we hear it, the result is merely a reinforcement of the original failure. The tragedy of this is that every time Our Dear Embattled Leader fails, people die.

“I saw with my own eyes young children flying from the windows of the apartments on top of the shops when the explosion arrived,” said Haydar Abdul Jabbar, 28, a car mechanic who was standing near a barber shop when the bomb exploded, sending up a plume of smoke several stories high. “One woman threw herself out of the window when the fire came close to her.”

Mr. Abdul Jabbar said he rushed to collapsed buildings, trying to help the wounded, but found mainly hands, skulls and other body parts. At one point, he discovered the remains of his close friend, who was engaged to be married.

It has been obvious for a long time, Georgie, that you don't care.

EXTRA: Just for shits and giggles, Georgie, read about the fun and adventure of fleeing your home to stay alive.

Labels: Bush legacy, failure