BAGHDAD, Jan. 16 -- The coordinated detonation of two bombs during the after-school rush at a Baghdad university killed at least 60 people Tuesday and wounded more than 140 in what university officials described as one of the deadliest attacks on academia since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
The spate of killings, which also included a bombing outside a Sunni Muslim shrine in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of central Baghdad, made plain the difficulties facing U.S. and Iraqi troops poised for their latest effort to tamp down rampant violence in the capital. It coincided with a report from the United Nations that said 34,452 Iraqi civilians died violently last year -- an average of 94 per day -- an estimate nearly triple the death toll provided by three Iraqi government ministries.
Gianni Magazzeni, chief of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, said the killings were driven by strife between Sunni and Shiite militants. "Without significant progress in the rule of law, sectarian violence will continue indefinitely and eventually spiral out of control," he said.
News agencies reported that at least 30 other people died violently in Iraq on Tuesday, bringing the day's total to about 100.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011600261.htmlNotice the U.N. guy did NOT say "unless the U.S. sends in more troops, sectarian violence will continue indefinitely and eventually spiral out of control." The rule of law he mentions can ONLY be done by Iraqis. Troops will at best have no effect, at worst make things worse.
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