» A very deadly day: The above figure, in addition to roughly 200 people injured, was the human cost of a seemingly coordinated series of bombings at 13 different sites across Iraq. Two car bombs near the fortified, so-called “Green Zone” also went off, an overtly threatening message just one week ahead of a planned Arab League summit Iraq is to host there. The summit was, and is, meant to be a show by the Iraqi government of their state’s stability and security. Today’s bombings are widely believed to have been timed to undermine all that – a similar plan last year was cancelled due to security fears. Nobody explicit has yet been linked to the bombings, but some Iraqi authorities have launched accusations towards Sunni militant groups, speaking to deepening sectarian strife.
» Danger and strife: Provincial government sources suggest grimly conventional tactics being used — a suicide bomber detonated himself amidst a group traveling to Karbala, and in Sadr City a man parked a motorbike near a group of day laborers seeking work, which exploded minutes after he left. The upheaval is both lethal and political; an arrest warrant is out for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi (a Sunni) on terrorism charges, which he denies. In response, the Sunni bloc of parliament has accused Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of power monopoly and abuse, and threatens to boycott the assembly.
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