4 Carbombings Kill 23, Wound at Least 80
2 US Troops Killed

Thomas Wagner of the Associated Press reports that on Sunday, guerrillas detonated 4 car bombs in Baghdad and Tikrit, leaving a trail of death and mayhem behind them. Wagner writes,

A vehicle packed with explosives was driven into a crowd gathered in front of a popular ice cream shop in Baghdad's western [Shiite] al-Shoulah neighborhood Sunday, police Maj. Mousa Abdul Karim said. Minutes later, as police and residents rushed to help the victims, a second suicide car bomber plowed into the crowd. At least 15 people were killed and 40 wounded. Shattered glass, pools of blood, and pieces of flesh littered the scene.

The bomb killed at least 11 and wounded 40.

In Tikrit, guerrillas exploded car bombs in front of a police academy, killing at least 6 and wounding 33.

Late reports put the total death toll for Sunday at 25, with over 100 wounded.

Knight Ridder reports on more aggressive military tactics among the guerrillas, including platoon-size attacks on US military facilities. See also on this subject This report in the Washington Post.

Allegations have been made on Iraqi television that some Shiites have been recruited by Zarqawi's Tawhid wa Jihad terrorist organization. Motivated by greed, they receive $1500 a month, a small fortune in contemporary Iraq, and have participated in bombings of their Shiite coreligionists. Ordinarily I take the Iraq television show trials with a large grain of salt, but this report seems credible to me. It should be remembered that 10% of the Phalangist militia in Lebanon in the 1970s consisted of poor Shiite footsoldiers who were in it for the money.