As June 30 draws ever closer, the mujahedin continue their efforts to destablize Iraq. Democracy is not something they long for, but something they view as a foreign import that offends Allah. From AP, :
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb Thursday outside the so-called Green Zone that houses the U.S. headquarters in Baghdad, killing five Iraqi civilians and a U.S. soldier.
Twenty-five people, including two American soldiers, were injured in the blast. The bomb, hidden inside an orange-and-white Baghdad taxi, exploded outside of a three-foot-high concrete blast wall which protects a U.S. checkpoint.
“There was a long line of cars. Fortunately, the blast barriers worked in this case,” said Col. John Murray of the U.S. Army’s Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division.
A suicide bomber also died in the attack, the military said.
Hours later, a roadside bomb exploded on Saadoun Street, a busy commercial avenue on the east side of the Tigris River near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels. Two Iraqis were injured.
Also Thursday, the U.S. command said that two U.S. soldiers were killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad. A statement said the explosion occurred just before midnight Wednesday but gave no further details.
The suicide attack came one day after U.S.-led forces launched their biggest assault yet against militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, raiding hideouts in several cities and clashing with gunmen. At least 15 Iraqis and a U.S. soldier were killed in Thursday fighting. In later overnight clashes, another 11 militiamen were killed, the U.S. military said.