Attacks Kill 95 in Iraq, Hint of Syrian Spillover - ABC News
Iraq's wave of bloodshed sharply escalated Monday with more than a dozen car bombings across the country, part of attacks that killed at least 95 people and brought echoes of past sectarian carnage and fears of a dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door.
"Iraq now has moved into a bigger circle that covers Syria and Lebanon," said Baghdad-based political affairs analyst Hadi Jalo.
Al-Maliki is not only worried about his Sunni rivals possibly deepening their involvement in the rebel cause in Syria, said Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Al-Maliki's worries extend to Iraq's semiautonomous northern Kurdish region, which has close links to Assad foe Turkey.
"Al-Maliki believes this is the time to be tough and show he is in control of the country," said Clawson. "What we are seeing is the backlash to that."
The U.S. and its Western allies strongly support Syria's political opposition, but have been reluctant to significantly boost weapons flow to rebel fighters because of worries over Islamic militants who have joined the anti-Assad brigades. But the deepening refugee crisis in the region, along with concern over spillover violence, is often cited by Arab states and Turkey urging greater Western intervention.
The worst of Monday's violence took place in Baghdad, where 10 car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas of Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 150, police officials said.
-I guess all the western influence and the iraq war was a success.
Iraq's wave of bloodshed sharply escalated Monday with more than a dozen car bombings across the country, part of attacks that killed at least 95 people and brought echoes of past sectarian carnage and fears of a dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door.
"Iraq now has moved into a bigger circle that covers Syria and Lebanon," said Baghdad-based political affairs analyst Hadi Jalo.
Al-Maliki is not only worried about his Sunni rivals possibly deepening their involvement in the rebel cause in Syria, said Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Al-Maliki's worries extend to Iraq's semiautonomous northern Kurdish region, which has close links to Assad foe Turkey.
"Al-Maliki believes this is the time to be tough and show he is in control of the country," said Clawson. "What we are seeing is the backlash to that."
The U.S. and its Western allies strongly support Syria's political opposition, but have been reluctant to significantly boost weapons flow to rebel fighters because of worries over Islamic militants who have joined the anti-Assad brigades. But the deepening refugee crisis in the region, along with concern over spillover violence, is often cited by Arab states and Turkey urging greater Western intervention.
The worst of Monday's violence took place in Baghdad, where 10 car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas of Shiite neighborhoods, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 150, police officials said.
-I guess all the western influence and the iraq war was a success.
@ spill over from syria
shyt that is war numbers right there!
Those people will never know peace....At least they knew a little of it when Saddam was around. Now this shyt is just a free for all.
