European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes saturday april 14 2007 officials now say Only 1 killed in Green zone investigators test forensics at blast site study How Security was compromised by Monte mown and Joseph Giordono stars and stripes american and iraqi officials on Friday reduced the number of casualties in thursdays bombing of the iraqi parliament As Parlia ment members attempted to hold an emergency meeting in the attacks aftermath officials said Friday that one person had been killed and More than 20 others wounded in the attack on thursday american military officials said eight people had been killed in the suspected suicide bombing reports were based on initial reports from the scene during evacuation operations emergency responders and eyewitnesses reported that casualties were being evacuated in multiple directions a military statement read Security was extremely tight at the iraqi parliament building Friday As investigators and officials picked through the debris of the bomb ing shattered Glass and wrecked furniture Cov ered the floor of the Large second Story cafeteria while dried blood arid shrapnel holes marked the ceiling some 50 feet overhead More Man 150 people Many of them Mem Bers of parliament gathered at the site at noon to Pray for the victims of the attack and to condemn those responsible a Wreath of Flowers was placed on the chair of the parliament member who had been killed in the blast we Are Here to show the terrorists that we will not be speaker said the parliament called an extremely rare emergency session on Friday the Muslim holy Day but because of tight Security and an ongoing driving ban every Friday in Baghdad most members of parliament were unable to at tend iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud Almash Hadani began fridays session by ask ing people to recite verses from the quran to mourn a fallen hero the parliament member Mohammed Awad but because few Mem Bers were Able to arrive the session instead turned into the group prayer and condemnation of the attack very few parliament members showed up because of the curfew Mohammed Abu Bakr head of the parliaments Media office was quoted As saying by the associated press also the maps turnout is very Low today be Czerwan Flowers Are placed at the chair of parliament member Mohammed Awad of the moderate sunni National dialogue front during fridays emergency session of parliament in Baghdad Awad was killed in thursdays suicide bombing cause most of them Are visiting those who were wounded by the blast iraqi television stations on Friday repeatedly showed images of the blast captured during an interview that coincided with the blast in the video a lawmaker is answering questions when a Bright Flash is seen followed by the explosion then sounds of shattering Glass and screams the cameraman then worked his Way into the cafeteria through Clouds of dust and smoke capturing images of the immediate aftermath of the attack us military investigators were conducting forensic tests of the blast site while iraqi and american officials looked into How the bomber penetrated Security at the Green zone the most heavily fortified area in Baghdad army it Gen Ray Odi Emo commander of the multinational corps Iraq said Friday military officials simply dont know How any one could have penetrated Security and car ried out the attack i wish i could Tell you the answer to that Odierno said from Baghdad in a teleconference with Pentagon reporters i think if s like everything else something didst go right theres plenty of defences there in the Green zone iraqi Security officials said the suicide bomber was Likely the bodyguard of a sunni lawmaker who was not Hurt in the blast an american military spokesman told can on thursday night that we dont know at this Point who it was we do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by Al Aida according to Media reports within an hour of the bombing a claim of responsibility had been posted on the internet by the islamic state in Iraq an Al Aida controlled militant group t the posting called the attack a message to those who cooperate with the occupier and its agents we will reach you wherever you Are the Post read stars and stripes reporter Lisa Burgess contributed to this Story email Monte Monte acc Erna Joseph Giordono acc attacks May prove troop surge came too late by Steven r Hurst the associated press and iraqi officials have voiced cautious optimism that the 2monthold Security operation in Iraq might be working a suicide bombing at parliament and another that sent a Baghdad Bridge crashing into the Tigris River delivered a pow Erful message that the Ameri called crackdown May be too late the attack inside Iraq Parlia ment which uses a Saddam Era convention Center in the unguarded Green zone occurred despite considerably hard ened Security in the compound since the beginning of the latest Security drive against Baghdad violence thursdays bombings were emblematic of the struggle us and iraqi troops Are fighting not Only in Baghdad but in Many areas throughout the country sunni insurgents and shiite militiamen analysis whole held Power for months or years Are fighting for their turf ferociously resorting to classic guerrilla i Landrun tactics compounding the problems fac ing the us and iraqi Security operation is Al Aida in Iraq the most violent organization in the larger sunni insurgency and the most difficult to defend against be cause it has an apparently full Sta ble of suicide bombers such at tacks like the ones thursday can be virtually impossible to Stop the symbolism of the Parlia ment bombing in the Green zone especially because it is seen As a Safe Haven in an otherwise chaotic and extraordinarily dangerous City was a Public relations blow to the Bush bid to expand us troop strength and keep the Force in Iraq president Bush and us com Manders in Iraq All say the Ameri can Effort to restore Calm to the capital and surrounding regions needs at least until the end of sum Mer but thursdays attacks and other evidence suggest the Job could take considerably longer the parliament attack com pounds other problems bedevil ing Iraq the Bush administration has demanded that shiite prime min ister noun Almalik meet a series of difficult legislative Bench Marks to get the country on track but none of them especially Pas Sage of a Law to share Oil income throughout the country among sunnis shiites and kurd is any where near going onto the books an attack like the one in Parlia ment Likely will throw the recalcitrant legislative body into further turmoil and make Quick action on any disputed measure unlikely the current Security drive orchestrated by the White House in conjunction with Almalik will see an additional 30000 Ameri can forces in the country by the end of May the stated purpose is to Calm the capital sufficiently so that the politicians can Deal with the extraordinarily difficult tasks before them but the parliament bombing is certain to Only Harden positions that could make Compromise already difficult nearly impossible and beyond that the Parlia ment attack overshadowed the in credible bombing of one of Bagh dads nine Tigris River spans an incident that would have been difficult to imagine even on a particularly violent Day in Baghdad the two attacks draw Stark at Tention to the country deepen ing sunni shiite Divide and the difficulty of spanning it the Bridge fell physically but also was a Symbol of How Baghdad once vibrant and mixed neighbor hoods now slowly Are becoming almost solely sunni or shiite with the Tigris As Boundary Hurst is a Iraq Bureau chief and has reported on the War since 2003 us deaths in Iraq the associated press As of thursday at least 3292 members of the us Mili tary have died since the begin Ning of the Iraq War in March 2003 according to an associated press count the includes seven military civilians at least 2674 a result of hostile action according to the military numbers the a count is two higher Titan 1fae defense depart ments tally last updated thursday at 10 Arnedt the British military has re ported 140 deaths Italy 33 Poland 19 bul Garia 13 Spain 11 Denmark six Al Salvador five Slovakia four Latvia three Estonia Netherlands Thailand two each and Australia Hungary Kazakhstan Romania one death each the latest deaths reported by military death reported the latest identifications re ported by the military no identifications reported 3 us troops killed in Iraq the associated press the us military reported Fri Day that three american soldiers and two iraqi translators were killed in two separate attacks South of Baghdad on thursday eight soldiers were wounded there were no further details at press time Baghdad Bridge attack death toll raised to 11 police increased to 11 the num Ber of civilians killed in the attack on a Bridge Over the Tigris River seven were killed in the explosion by a powerful suicide truck bomb and four died when their cars plummeted into the River police said at least 39 were wounded including three iraqi soldiers two civilians Are still missing they said us forces Nab 14 insurgent suspects Baghdad us forces Cap tured 14 suspected Al Aida in Iraq members in raids Early Fri Day the military said also a Roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded four oth ers in Southern Baghdad on Fri Day police said a civilian was also wounded the bodies of radio newscaster and her husband were found thursday in the Northern City of Mosul three Days after being kid napped by gunmen police Brig Gen Abdulkarim Aljubouri said