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October 07, 2004
Progress, Progress (The Green Zone)
Baghdad Green Zone on alert after bomb found
Fallujah blast kills U.S. soldier; 240 Iraqi prisoners released
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6095119/
U.S. authorities raised the security alert in the heavily guarded Green Zone after an improvised bomb was found in front of a restaurant there, officials said Thursday. The explosive device was safely diffused.
Following the security announcement, a loud explosion echoed across central Baghdad and white smoke rose from the direction of the Green Zone housing Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy, Reuters witnesses said.
The Interior Ministry and the U.S. military had no immediate word on the cause of the blast. All entrances to the Green Zone were closed down, people working there said.
And
The warning to Americans and Iraqi officials in the Green Zone followed the discovery Tuesday of an explosive device at the Green Zone Cafe, a popular hangout for Westerners living and working in the compound -- which houses major U.S. and Iraqi government offices. A U.S. military ordnance detachment safely disarmed it, U.S. officials said.
Americans living and working in the zone were warned to avoid non-essential movements, travel in groups and avoid specific areas.
Although movements in and out of the Green Zone are restricted, about 10,000 Iraqis live inside the 4-square-mile district, located along the western side of the Tigris river.
Slowly it starts.
Now, if the Iraqi insurgents are really clever, they will eventually set off a bomb at the Cafe or something similar and kill some Staffers... Start a whole new cycle of reaction.
ADDED:
Via the Andrew Sullivan blog which I have begun to enjoy (it is refreshing I must say, and nearly my kind of politics)
From: "Baghdad, USConsul"
To: "Baghdad, USConsul"
Subject: Warden Message
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 14:36:13 +0000
Warden Message - Increased Security Awareness within the International Zone
On October 5, 2004, at approximately 1 pm, U.S. Embassy security personnel discovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the Green Zone Café. A U.S. Military Explosive Ordnance Detachment safely disarmed the IED.
American citizens living or working in the International Zone are strongly encouraged to take the following security precautions:
* Limit non-essential movement within the International Zone, especially at night.
* Travel in groups of two or more.
* Carry several means of communication.
* Avoid the Green Zone Café, the Chinese Restaurants, the Lone Star restaurant and Vendor Alley.
* Conduct physical fitness training within a compound perimeter.
* Notify office personnel or friends of your travel plans in the International Zone.
**** Conduct a thorough search of your vehicle prior to entering it.
Consular Section
US Embassy Baghdad
I particularly enjoy the "conduct a thorough search of your vehicle prior to entering it.
It's real progress after all that even the Green Zone is no longer secure.
Recall, when I quoted my man in Baghdad about Pimps and Whores?
Posted by The Lounsbury at October 7, 2004 01:22 PM
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Aug-Dec 2004
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