Bombs louder than words: Baghdad not ready for tourists

Despite the availability of civilian flights to Baghdad, the city is not yet ready for tourists. A suicide bomber in central Baghdad killed two and injured another 12 while attacking a police patrol at approximately 2 AM (EST) yesterday. One of my sources on the ground heard the blast and initially thought it was a car bomb (there have been several since the beginning of the year, all audible from the “International Zone,” i.e. the protected part of the city.

Immediately following the blast, which rattled windows in the International Zone, aproximatley 15 seconds of small arms fire ensued. The weapons fire was not the result of a gunfight, he said. Rather, it was the result of an Iraqi policeman firing erratically.

So, while you’re dying to check out the newly opened National Museum, in Baghdad, you may want to hold off for a while.

[Photo by Brian Sayler]