Iraq

Many dead in northern Iraq blasts

At least 23 people have been killed and 65 injured in a series of bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber blew up a truck killing 18 people close to offices of Kurdish political parties and a police station.

Hours later, a joint US-Iraqi security patrol was targeted in an attack which left three civilians dead.

Two further roadside bomb attacks were reported, as well as a suicide car bomb attack at an Iraqi army checkpoint.

At least one person was killed in another blast that targeted the house of a local tribal leader.

In Baghdad, officials said 24 bodies were found. Most of the victims had been shot dead in apparent sectarian attacks.

Several of the corpses showed signs of torture, officials said. About 180 bodies have been found in the city in the last five days.

So which corner have we turned now? Iraq is not getting any better, in fact its getting even worse and civil war is already taking place.

The Bush Junta and their lackey Blair just cannot admit that anything is wrong and prefer to live in a delusional bubble that Iraq is some sort of 'democracy'.

Meanwhile the Pope puts his foot in his mouth and dregs up a 14th century Byzantine emperor (Manuel II Palaiologos) to make a inflamatory remark, which is only going to cause offence in these sensative times, I leave it to the ever brilliant Billmon to spell it out:

I hope the pope has learned at least a small lesson from this debacle, which is that he simply doesn't have the intellect, the stature or -- most important -- the moral authority of his precedessor to pontificate on such matters. If I were Benedict, I'd concentrate on doing what he clearly is equipped to do best, which is keeping the chair warm for his hopefully more able and less reactionary successor.

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