Iranian Proxies Target Shias In Major Bombing In Baghdad

The success of the surge and the rise of Iraqi forces in combatting al Qaeda has been bad news for Iran. The mad mullahs had used the threat of al Qaeda to provide cover for their attempts to weaken the Iraqi government and "Lebanize" Iraq. But with al Qaeda in full retreat, the extent of the neighboring theocracy's deadly meddling and its deeply nefarious strategy stands exposed. Iran's proxies have responded yesterday with a major car bombing against a predominantly Shia neighborhood that reportedly killed fifty innocents and wounded up to 80 more. This slaughter was designed to appear as an al Qaeda operation.
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This from the Long War Journal:

Yesterday's car bomb attack in the Shia neighborhood of Hayy Hurriyah in Baghdad's Kadamiyah district was carried out by a Mahdi Army Special Group cell, and not al Qaeda in Iraq, the US military stated.

The bombing was the largest inside Baghdad since March. . .

A Mahdi Army cell leader named Haydar Mahdi Khadum Al Fawadi was behind the attack, according to intelligence information obtained by Multinational Forces Iraq.

"We believe the attack was not conducted by AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq]," said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad in an e-mail to The Long War Journal. Though vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices are a trademark of AQI, our intelligence, corroborated through multiple sources, is this atrocity was committed by a special groups cell led by Haydar Mahdi Khadum Al Fawadi."

Fawadi is behind multiple attacks on US and Iraqi forces. He uses the deadly explosively formed projectile weapons, which are manufactured in Iran, and more conventional roadside bombs in his attacks. "He intimidates the Shia population with threats of violence and murder," said Stover.

Stover said the intelligence indicates yesterday's attack was conducted to "incite Shia violence against Sunnis," and Fawadi hoped to "disrupt Sunni resettlement in Hurriyah in order to maintain extortion of real estate rental income to support his nefarious activities."

A Special Groups cell did take credit for the attack, said Stover. They claimed to have been targeting Coalition forces, but the closest forces nearby were more than 150 yards away.

While the attack has the hallmarks of an al Qaeda in Iraq strike, the type of vehicle used in the attack and the unknown origin of the explosive materials used in the attack, along with the other information, point to the Mahdi Army. . . .

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