6 Us Troops Wounded Weds

6 US troops wounded Weds.; Bomb blast in Baghdad Kills 8 Iraqis

AP reported that on Wednesday, a bomb hidden in foliage outside a Baghdad restaurant exploded as a US army convoy passed. The guerrillas wounded 3 American soldiers and 3 Iraqi civilians, and killed an Iraq bystander. On Wednesday, as well, guerrillas set off a roadside bomb, inflicting minor injuries on 3 US troops, and killing an Iraqi boy.

Also on Wednesday, a huge car bomb went off in front of the posh Nabil’s Restaurant in the upscale Karrada neighborhood, killing 8 Iraqis and wounding 35 persons (three LA Times reporters were cut by flying glass). Although many Western observers speculated that this bombing was a new tactic by the guerrillas, insofar as it concentrated on a soft, wholly Iraqi target, this tactic is not new. There have been attacks on Shiites, in, e.g. Najaf. Guerrillas have killed dozens of Iraqis when it suited their purpose, which is to raise the cost of cooperating politically with the US. Karrada was probably hit because it was seen as full of pro-American compradors.