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Explosions in Baghdad

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Baghdad was pummeled by five explosions today in the deadliest violence since US troops withdrew from the city on June 30th. The targets were mainly government buildings. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Washington Post reporter, Ernesto Londono.

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LISA MULLINS: I’m Lisa Mullins and this is The World. It’s been seven weeks since US troops withdrew from cities in Iraq. The idea was that the Iraqi government could restore a sense of normalcy to its urban areas. Well right now that idea seems like little more than wishful thinking. Today at least five bombs exploded near government buildings in an area that has been relatively safe. The biggest blast was near the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. Ninety-five people were killed. It was the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in more than a year. Washington Post reporter Ernesto Londono is in Baghdad now. How well coordinated were these attacks?

ERNESTO LONDONO: What is unique about these attacks is that in recent weeks we’ve seen several attacks targeting Shia areas and places like markets and places that are heavily transited. But by and large they were soft targets. They weren’t targets that were heavily guarded. What we saw today indicates that the insurgency remains able to carry out pretty high-profile attacks in key locations, in locations where there should have been very heavily guarded and it should have been a priority for the government to keep safe.

MULLINS: Now three of the mortars, we should say, landed in the green zone – this is the heavily fortified area in Baghdad that contains the US Embassy. Do the Iraqi security forces who are supposed to be protecting these sites, where they neglectful or is it possible they were unready or co-opted even by those who were doing the attacks?

LONDONO: There are many Iraqis who believe that the security forces remain infiltrated. I interviewed earlier today an official at the Finance Ministry who was gravely wounded in the attacks and what he had to say was look the capital was attacked in a very short period of time in several key areas. He said he was convinced that the government’s security forces remain infiltrated by some of the perpetrators of violence and that much work remains to be done to wean the security forces of some of those influences.

MULLINS: Well how about the ability of the Iraqi security forces to be able to stand on their own and provide enough protection when American’s are basically on the sidelines right now as part of the deal. Did any Americans respond to these latest attacks and what is their role?

LONDONO: Americans did in fact respond to the bombing sites. They sent explosive ordinance teams to do some forensic review to try to see what kind of explosives were used and how they got there. However Americans are pretty restrained since June 30^th in what they can do. Many Iraqis today were asking, you know, could this have been prevented if the Americans still had a robust presence in the city. And I expect that American commanders and Iraqi officials will be asking themselves that question which is an uncomfortable question in the lead up to the national election in January.

MULLINS: Right the national election is coming up in January. I wonder if people assume that there will be more violence and if they assume that because the United States has to basically ask for permission to respond to incidents like today’s if it seems that the US policy which has been trumpeted – this urban pullout that happened on June 30^th – if it seems like this policy is not working.

LONDONO: I think it will take some ways to see how American officials respond to this if at all. I mean one option would be for American officials to re-inject themselves more actively into Baghdad primarily and other urban areas. But by doing so they would undermine the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. I had a very brief conversation with one of the American soldiers who responded to the Finance Ministry bombing and our conversation I think was indicative of how many soldiers feel. I approached him and I asked him if it would be okay for me to take his photograph. He was surveying the scene and picking up some debris from the ground. And in sort of light-hearted way he said sure just make sure you photograph me doing nothing because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing here. So I think there’s frustration among US soldiers that after six years of being here and after a lot of hard work they’re seeing a continued violence and they no longer have the ability to respond aggressively to these threats.

MULLINS: One would think that that’s what the insurgents who are behind these attacks are counting on.

LONDONO: I think that’s a fair statement.

MULLINS: Alright thank you very much. Washington Post reporter Ernesto Londono who is now in Baghdad. Thank you again.

LONDONO: Thank you.

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