BREAKING NEWS: CAR BOMB KILLS 23 IN IRAQ

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates got a first hand look at how conditions are worsening in Iraq when he visited Baghdad on Sunday.

Shortly after Gates' arrival a car bomb exploded in nearby Balad killing 23 Iraqi civilians and injuring scores of others.

The latest episode underscores the reason many are saying the "surge" is no longer working and violence and mayhem are on the rise in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq.

Reported by Bill Corcoran, editor of this blog devoted to telling the truth about events in Iraq and not Bush White House "spin."

Car bomb in Balad kills 23, U.S. military says

U.S. defense secretary in Baghdad to talk about future relations
MSNBC News Services

BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 23 people and wounded 25 more in a market in the Iraqi town of Balad on Sunday, the U.S. military said.

A spokesman said the blast occurred near an Iraqi army checkpoint, adding the wounded were being rushed to hospital. Balad lies north of Baghdad.

The violence came as the U.S. military said impatience with slow improvements to basic services like electricity and water could reverse recent security gains in Iraq, especially Anbar province, a former al-Qaida stronghold.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Iraq on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi officials and U.S. commanders to discuss U.S. troop levels in the light of improving security and to prepare talks on a pact that will define future relations between Washington and Baghdad
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Villages attackedInsurgents stormed two villages in northwestern Iraq on Sunday but were repelled by U.S.-allied fighters and Iraqi security forces in clashes that left at least 22 people dead, according to local authorities.

The attack began about 5 a.m. when about 25 carloads of heavily armed gunmen drove into the villages of Khams Tlol and al-Madina, about 50 miles west of Mosul, said Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, a Sunni lawmaker and the head of the anti-al-Qaida group in Mosul.

He said villagers fought back against the militants, who were wielding rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and assault rifles, prompting clashes that lasted about five hours.

An Iraqi army officer in Mosul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, confirmed the attack and said the fighting ended after Iraqi soldiers joined the battle.

Those killed included 10 militants and six members of the so-called Awakening Group in the area, as well as four women and two children, the officials said, adding that 10 civilians were wounded in the clashes.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'Essential services' lackingWith Iraq's Shiite-led government deadlocked on the 2008 budget and other major measures, U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith said that Iraq needed to take advantage of security gains to improve the lives of Sunni Arabs.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23096440/