August 15, 2007 6:07

More Than 200 Dead in Iraq Bombings

Four simultaneous truck-bomb explosions in northern Iraq killed at least 200 people overnight, Iraqi officials say, with hundreds more injured. (A hospital official put the death toll much higher, claiming he had at least 500 corpses.) The bombings are one of the deadliest attacks of the insurgency, and they seem to have targeted a predominantly Kurdish minority religious group called the Yazidi. The BBC suggests the group was chosen because its members want to join Iraq's semi-autonomous (and relatively peaceful) Kurdish region. The White House condemned the attacks as "barbaric," and the U.S. military said on Wednesday it considers al-Qaeda to be the "prime suspect."

The U.S. Army Chief of Staff says the troop surge is working, however. Gen. George Casey—who is a former U.S. commander in Iraq—told reporters yesterday he saw clear "progress on the security front" during his weekend visit to Iraq. "As complex and as difficult and as confusing as you may find Iraq ... we can succeed there," he said. "And we will succeed there if we demonstrate patience and will." But he said he didn't know when the Army might be able to cut soldiers' tours of duty back to 12 months from 15.

The LA Times reports that Gen. David Petraeus, the current U.S. commander in Iraq, is likely to recommend troop pullbacks when he gives his September status report to Congress. Administration officials—speaking to the LAT on the condition of anonymity—say that pulling troops from secure areas might "persuade Congress to reject pressure for a major U.S. withdrawal." A pullback doesn't necessarily mean the troops would go home, though. They could be reassigned to hotspots, or pooled into a reserve force for rapid response to crises.