CHENEY DUMPED FROM SPEAKING TO WOUNDED VETS BECAUSE HIS SECURITY DEMANDED WOUNDED VETS WAIT TWO HOURS TO HEAR CHENEY SPEAK

Cheney Uninvited from Convention for Disabled Vets

Cheney's staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney's arrival and couldn't leave until he'd finished talking, officials confirmed.

Posted: 28 Jul 2008 12:46 PM CDT
http://www.vetvoice.com/

Dick Cheney was all set to speak at the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) convention in Las Vegas next month. But now he's no longer welcome:

WASHINGTON - Vice President Cheney's invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable.

The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans at 8:30 a.m. at its August convention in Las Vegas.


"Word got back to us ... that this would be a prerequisite," said the veterans executive director, David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn't have any rest rooms. "We told them it just wasn't acceptable."

When Cheney spoke to the group in 2004, his handlers imposed the same stringent security lockdown, upsetting members, officials said.

No surprises here. This sounds about right.

CNN: 70 KILLED AND 300 WOUNDED BY 4 FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS IN BAGHDAD AND KIRKUK: WILL McCAIN CREDIT "THE SURGE" FOR THIS TOO?

Female suicide bombers target pilgrims, rally

Story Highlights
NEW: Kirkuk authorities ban car, foot traffic till Tuesday morning
NEW: Iraq security forces find, destroy bomb in parked car after Kirkuk attack
Triple suicide attack in Baghdad claims more Shiite pilgrims, officials say
Kirkuk bomber detonates device at rally before gunmen open fire on crowd

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/28/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four female suicide bombers and a gunman killed at least 70 people and wounded almost 300 others during a string of attacks in central Baghdad and Kirkuk on Monday, officials said.

In Baghdad, three suicide bombers detonated their explosives in three locations within 30 minutes of each other. The attacks killed at least 32 people and wounded 102 others, most of them Shiite pilgrims, an Interior Ministry official said.

Continue reading CNN report here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/28/iraq.main/index.html

MSNBC/AP UPDATE: 26 KILLED, 85 WOUNDED IN 3 FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBER ATTACKS IN BAGHDAD

The death toll in the suicide bombings by 3 females in Baghdad is mounting.

Bombs kill 26 during Baghdad pilgrimage

Scores of others wounded after apparently female bombers hit procession

The Associated Press
updated 2:51 a.m. CT, Mon., July. 28, 2008

BAGHDAD - Three suicide bombers and a roadside bomb struck Shiite pilgrims taking part in a massive religious procession in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 85, police said.

The attacks occurred in quick succession as tens of thousands of Shiite worshippers streamed toward a shrine in northern Baghdad for an annual event marking the death of an eighth-century saint. The event climaxes on Tuesday.

Police said there were indications that the suicide bombers were women. At least two children were among the dead, said police officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The attacks took place in the mainly Shiite Karradah district, which is several miles away from the site of the pilgrimage in Kazimiyah, northern Baghdad.

Women increasingly used for attacksInsurgents have increasingly been using women this year to stage suicide bombings in a bid to avoid security measures. Women are more easily able to hide explosives under their all-encompassing black Islamic robes, or abayas, and they often are not searched at checkpoints.

Security forces have deployed about 200 women volunteers this week to search female pilgrims near the Baghdad district of Kazimiyah, where the Shiite saint is buried in a golden domed shrine.

On Sunday, at least seven pilgrims were killed south of Baghdad in an ambush by gunmen near a Sunni town, Madain, south of the capital.

Shiite pilgrims have frequently been targeted by car bombs and gunmen during years of sectarian warfare. In 2005, at least 1,000 people also were killed in a bridge stampede caused by rumors of a suicide bomber in Baghdad during the Kazimiyah pilgrimage.

But recent pilgrimages have been relatively peaceful as a U.S. troop buildup, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a Shiite militia cease-fire helped drive violence down to its lowest level in more than four years.

Former insurgent strongholdSunday’s ambush occurred in a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold that has been touted by the U.S. military as a success story with its streets now patrolled by U.S.-allied Sunni groups known as Awakening Councils.

Police believe the gunmen were seeking to rekindle sectarian tensions in the area.

The main Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, on Sunday said 100,000 Iraqi security forces will be deployed along with U.S. reinforcements and air support to protect the ceremonies in kazimiyah.

Vehicles have been banned from the area and most Baghdad bridges would be closed to traffic, al-Moussawi said, adding that pilgrims were banned from carrying weapons or cell phones — rules that have been widely flouted in the past.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25880699/

CNN: IRAQ: IS THIS WHAT McCAIN CALLS "WINNING?" 3 FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL 11 IN BAGHDAD

GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain and the "talking heads" at FOX NEWS like to boast about how "the surge" is working and we are winning the war in Iraq, but how do you define "winning" when events like 3 female suicide bombers blowing themselves up and killing 11 in Baghadad Monday morning and injuring 30 others?

There is no such thing as "winning" in Iraq? Nobody has signed a declaration of surrender and they never will because there are too many factions in Iraq and not one faction speaks for all the insurgents and terrorists.

The Bush White House and FOX NEWS continue to LIE to the American public about how the successs of "the surge" means we are winning or have won the Iraq war.

NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH AS WITNESSED BY MONDAY'S EVENTS IN BAGHDAD.

COMMENTARY BY BILL CORCORAN, EDITOR OF CORKSPHERE

Iraq: Suicide blasts claim more pilgrims
http://tinyurl.com/582mqb

Story Highlights
NEW: New suicide attacks on Monday claim more Shiite pilgrims, Iraq says
Seven pilgrims gunned down on Sunday
Pilgrims walk to Kadhimiya to commemorate the death of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim
New checkpoints have been set up to help secure safe passage for the pilgrims

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three female suicide bombers detonated explosives vests in central Baghdad on Monday morning, killing at least 11 Shiite pilgrims and wounding 33 others, an Interior Ministry official said.

The attacks took place in three different locations within an hour of each other.

The blasts on Monday followed Sunday attacks, when seven Shiite pilgrims were gunned down in a town south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

The attack occurred at 3 p.m. in Salman Pak when the pilgrims were walking to Kadhimiya in northwestern Baghdad to commemorate the death of revered figure Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, the official said.

The pilgrims, all males, were carrying black flags and chanting religious songs before the attack, the official said.

Authorities are searching for the assailants, the official said.

Salman Pak -- also referred to as al-Madaen -- is a predominately Sunni town. It was controlled by al Qaeda in Iraq before the Iraqi security forces managed to gain control of much the area. Still, there are al Qaeda in Iraq cells in villages around the town.

Over the past few days, hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims started walking toward Kadhimiya, a Shiite neighborhood, for the annual commemoration of al-Kadhim's death. Many have traveled -- either by foot or by car -- from across the country, especially southern Shiite provinces.

Continue reading here: http://tinyurl.com/582mqb