White House decries 'hateful' attacks in Iraq

Scores killed, but nation's progress on track, U.S. says

Detroit News wire services

Washington -- President Barack Obama said Sunday's "outrageous attacks" outside government offices in the Iraqi capital "reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the "savage" attacks will not succeed in undermining Iraq's progress toward stability, self-reliance and justice based on the rule of law.

The White House said Obama spoke to Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, and prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, about nine hours after the suicide bombings, which killed at least 147 people. The blasts struck near the Justice Ministry and city government offices in downtown Baghdad. They were the worst attacks in more than two years and came ahead of national elections in January.

Obama said the attacks were an attempt to stop progress in Iraq, but he said they were no match "for the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people and their determination to build strong institutions."

The dead included 35 employees at the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, said police and medical officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. At least 721 people were wounded, including three American contractors.

The fact that the vehicles were able to get into an area home to numerous government institutions -- just hundreds of yards from the heavily fortified Green Zone where the U.S. Embassy and the prime minister's office are located -- sparked demands that those in charge of the city's security be held accountable.

"Those responsible for security and intelligence should be checked and interrogated," said Sunni Iraqi lawmaker Wathab Shakir. "Why should innocent people be killed?"

The street where the blasts occurred had just been reopened to vehicle traffic six months ago. Shortly after, blast walls were repositioned to allow traffic closer to the government buildings. Such changes were touted by al-Maliki as a sign that safety was returning to the city.

The Iraqi leader walked among the mangled and blackened cars, which lay in front of blast walls that had been decorated with peaceful street scenes of Iraq. At the Justice Ministry, windows and walls on both sides of the street were blown away, and blood pooled with water from burst pipes.

Al-Maliki has staked his political reputation and re-election bid on his ability to bring peace to the country and pledged to punish those responsible, who he said wanted to "spread chaos in the country, undermine the political process and prevent the holding of parliamentary elections." But the Sunday attacks seemed designed to paint the Iraqi leader as incapable of providing security to the beleaguered city, undermining much of his political support.

The attacks occurred just hours before Iraq's top leadership was scheduled to meet with heads of political parties in order to reach a compromise on election guidelines needed to hold the January vote.

Critics have also complained that some of the key officials charged with security -- Maliki and Interior Minister Jawad Bolani -- are more engaged in the election than in running the country.

"Security officials are busy with politics," said Asma al-Musawi, a parliament member from a bloc allied with cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers represent one of Maliki's main challengers in the coming election. "Now everybody's accusing everybody else."

No group has claimed responsibility, but the Shiite-dominated government has been a target of Sunni insurgents.

Violence has receded across much of Iraq since the height of the sectarian war. With little fear, drivers ply the roads of provinces like Anbar, once the cradle of the insurgency. But the bombings revealed a remarkable prowess in logistics and planning. The buildings attacked Sunday were well- fortified, tucked behind rings of checkpoints, although the street connecting them had been reopened this summer.

The targets seemed to reflect an older chapter of the insurgency, when attacks were less frequent but often more devastating.

"This was a bloody and painful attack," said Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite lawmaker who plans to run with Maliki's bloc in January. "We need to reassess our security and redeploy our armed forces. We need technical assistance from the Americans."