There were two large bombings in Baghdad this morning. The Post and Times are reporting that at least 45 people were killed and hundreds were injured.The bombs targeted the finance and foreign ministries and occurred within 10 minutes of each other. The Post article says that US officials assume that Sunni extremists -- attempting to undermine Maliki's government -- were behind the bombs.
It seems like there has been a lot of violence in Iraq this summer - fewer incidents (I think) against American soldiers than in past years but more Iraqi-against-Iraqi attacks.
The picture is by Ali Al-Saadi.
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There was a good piece in the Times over the weekend about the declining production at Iraqi date farms. The farms receive significant operating support from the central government, and as that support has dried up the farms have fallen into disrepair and are producing smaller crops.------
Since I started writing this post the Times has updated its article and is now reporting that at least 75 people were killed.
