Carnage in Iraq

10 days from the elections, Iraq spins out of control 

Two years on, George Bush's Freedom and Democracy still has to win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq, a country with around 200.000 Resistance fighters, determined to vanquish the U.S. occupation forces.

This morning, another 26 people lost their lives and dozens were injured when five car bombs exploded in Baghdad. One, which exploded outside the Australian Embassy in the supposedly safe Green Zone at 07.05, killed two soldiers and wounded four other people, two of them soldiers. Another, half an hour later, killed 18 people and injured scores of others near Al Alwiyya, according to Interior Ministry officials. 

The third bomb exploded at 08.30 outside the military base of Al Mouthanna, killing at least one civilian and one soldier and wounding several soldiers, according to accounts from eye witnesses.

The fourth bomb, outside a bank, targeted local policemen, who were receiving their orders for the day. It is unclear how many of them were killed, but the latest reports state "several".

The fifth exploded near a vehicle driven by Iraqi policemen near the airport. Two were killed and three were wounded.