2 car bombs kill up to 100 people in Iraq

Smoke rises from the site of two explosions in central Baghdad. US President George W. Bush put the last touches on his annual State of the Union speech, a prime-time chance to defend his highly unpopular new Iraq strategy amid another bloodbath there.(AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)

Some more bad news from Iraq--the sectarian violence goes on. This is from the New York Times:

BAGHDAD, Jan 22 — Raising the prospect of yet more intensified sectarian fighting here, two powerful car bombs ripped through a crowded market in central Baghdad today, killing at least 88, wounding 160 and leaving the area littered with pieces of human bodies amid the flotsam of second-hand goods that drew customers to the area.

The bombings, among the most deadly in the past year, were timed to inflict maximum carnage in the Shiite neighborhood, occurring around noon local time, when shoppers and commuters, who use the area as an informal transportation hub, tend to gather.

The force of the explosion turned everyday items like lotions and DVD’s into deadly weapons.

“Bottles of perfumes and deodorants were flying in the air like small rockets,” said Ali Hussein 47, a biologist who was heading home when he was knocked off his feet by the explosion. “I was wounded in my right leg,” he said outside the Kindi hospital, which was quickly overwhelmed with victims.

Even as chaos continues to envelop this country, American soldiers began heading into some of Baghdad’s most troubled areas, setting up new bases where they plan to work with the Iraqi security forces to restore order.

Possibly in anticipation of the American initiative, there were indications that Shiite militia members had taken a lower profile in recent weeks. American military officials said they had arrested key militia leaders and judging by the numbers of dead bodies found on the streets in Baghdad each morning, it appeared that the activities of the death squads had eased somewhat.

But today’s bombings, along with an attack on a Shiite town north of Baghdad that killed 15, came after a week of violent attacks on Shiite areas, including twin car bombings at a university in Baghdad last week that left 65 dead and threatened to spur yet more bloodletting.

[....]

Elsewhere in Baghdad, a Sunni mosque in Dura was blown up tonight. There were no reports of casualties and the mosque had been largely abandoned as Shiites took control of the part of town where it is located. Residents said the attack was likely revenge for the bombing of Shiite mosque in the neighborhood last week

[....]

From the eastern banks of the nearby Tigris River, the two explosions today could be heard going off in quick succession, seconds between blasts. Police officials said they were so large that the cars each likely had a minimum of more than 200 pounds of explosives loaded inside. Huge clouds of smoke billowed high into the sky, and as the fires caused by the explosion engulfed at least a dozen cars, the cloud drifted over the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is only about half a mile away.

The sectarian violence continues. And President Bush wants to send even more young American soldiers into this meat grinder.