String of Bombings in Iraq Underscores Fragile Situation

Ernesto, start with today's bombings. What's known or thought to be known so far about who might be behind them?

ERNESTO LONDONO, The Washington Post: This is the latest series of attacks that are believed to be the work of Sunni insurgent group, al-Qaida in Iraq. The group last month threatened to conduct a wave of suicide bombings, and it has made good on that promise.

In the last couple of days, we've seen that al-Qaida in Iraq remains capable of carrying out large-scale attacks, killing dozens of people in bombings, and bypassing the pretty considerable security measures that have gone up in this country in recent years.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, how much security would there normally be at a site -- the site of today's bombings?

ERNESTO LONDONO: Security is very tight outside of mosques. At the shrine in Khadamiya, in particular, it has been extraordinarily high. This is the most revered shrine in Shia Islam in Baghdad.

It is virtually impossible to get inside of the shrine with explosives, which is the reason that officials believe the bombers struck just outside of one of the entrances. And because this happened as dozens of people were trying to get in for midday prayers, this was a very crowded area at the time.

ERNESTO LONDONO: There's been a couple of developments in recent months that many Iraqis believe are providing the insurgency with potential recruits. The U.S. military is in the process of emptying out its detention centers in Iraq, and many of these people -- many of these inmates have wound up on the streets.

Another development that some Iraqis point to is the transition of the Sons of Iraq, or awakening councils, to the Iraqi government. These are Sunni paramilitaries that were created and funded by the U.S. military back in 2007 to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

The U.S. has been handing over responsibility for these groups to the Iraqi government, but many in their ranks don't trust the government and accuse the government of detaining leaders and of failing to pay them on time.

So there's widespread dissatisfaction among Sunnis, who consider themselves as one of the pillars of the recent security gains, that, at this time, when they're now under the control of the Iraqi government, they're not really being given their due.

ERNESTO LONDONO: Al-Qaida in Iraq is a Sunni insurgent group that is believed to be led by non-Iraqi Arabs. And many of the suicide bombings that have happened in the country in past years have been carried out by non-Iraqis.

Many of these folks are smuggled through the Syrian border. This is a border that has been historically very porous. Smuggling along the border goes back for centuries.

The U.S. military has made a concerted effort to crack down on smuggling and has, in fact, set up numerous outposts along the border to try to interdict the weapons and the fighters that have been streaming in.

And General Petraeus today told lawmakers that it's possible that loosened controls along the border now that security has improved may have allowed these people to sneak in. He said that at least four people were successful in coming into the country and carrying out recent bombings, and that perhaps there are more on the loose.

JEFFREY BROWN: So what is the thinking on the ground there as to the goals of these attacks?

ERNESTO LONDONO: The Sunni insurgency from the very beginning has been trying to undermine the United States government and the Shia-led Iraqi government. Many Sunni insurgents view Iraq's government as a proxy of the United States government and as a byproduct of the occupation. And they feel that Iraqis should once again be in control of Sunnis.

And their strategy, as best as we are able to tell, is to create anger toward the government on the street and to undermine it at every turn. This has worked in the past and has generated a considerable amount of anger in recent days toward the government and toward Iraq's security forces.