Car bombs kill at least 88
A video from Ayman al-Zawahri mocks Bush's plan for a troop surge.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents set off a pair of car bombs in a crowded Baghdad marketplace Monday, killing at least 88 Iraqis in a warning sign that Sunni militants will challenge the proposed U.S. playbook to calm the country's sectarian violence.
The explosions left behind gruesome scenes of chaos in the city's Tayaran Square, often a frenzied crossroads of commerce and traffic. The wounded dragged themselves into taxis past mangled vendors' carts, blackened debris and piles of soot.
Dazed survivors prodded bodies for signs of life and bandaged wounds with second-hand clothes from thrift stores at the market. The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air hours after the explosion.
At least 168 Iraqis were wounded in the attack, which bore sectarian overtones and was similar to blasts by Sunni Arab insurgents, particularly those with ties to foreign extremist networks. The majority of businesspeople and workers in the capital's downtown marketplaces are Shiite.
Helicopter crash
Meanwhile, an al-Qaida-linked coalition of Iraqi Sunni insurgents claimed its fighters shot down an American military helicopter in a crash Saturday that killed 12 U.S. soldiers. The U.S. military has said the cause of the crash has not been determined.
In Washington, a senior military official said investigators found debris near the scene of the helicopter crash that could be part of a shoulder-fired weapon. The official requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
New videotape
Al-Qaida's deputy leader mocked President Bush's plan to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, challenging him to send "the entire army" and vowing insurgents will defeat them, according to details from a new al-Qaida videotape released Monday by a U.S. group that tracks terror messages.
Excerpts from the video were distributed by the Washington-based SITE Institute, which said it had intercepted the footage of Ayman al-Zawahri. The tape had not yet been posted on Islamic militant Web sites, where his messages are usually placed.
SITE did not elaborate on how it received the video, and it wasn't immediately possible to confirm its authenticity.
Al-Zawahri said the U.S. strategy for Iraq, outlined by Bush in a Jan. 9 speech, was doomed to fail.
"I ask him, why send 20,000 [troops] only -- why not send 50 or 100 thousand? Aren't you aware that the dogs of Iraq are pining for your troops' dead bodies?" said al-Zawahri in the footage.
Weakness exposed
The increase in Sunni violence has exposed a weakness in the U.S. and Iraqi effort to stabilize Baghdad. The Bush administration has vowed to pacify Shiite militias thought to be targeting Sunnis. But Sunni attacks on Shiite targets have continued unabated, threatening to strengthen the Shiite population's support of its militias, and jeopardizing efforts to clear breathing space for vital reconciliation talks between factions.
Victims of the bombing cursed the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as they hauled away bodies and debris. "Where is al-Maliki now?" cried out one man, whose brother was killed in the blast. "We are being killed, and they are sitting on their fancy chairs."