Welcome to Iraq

Thanks for the visit, Condoleezza:

The bodies of 34 men shot execution-style were found in three locations in less than 24 hours, police said Sunday, a day when drive-by shootings and suicide bombings killed at least eight Iraqis, including a senior Industry Ministry official and a top Shiite cleric.

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Insurgents launched more brazen attacks Sunday in a seemingly endless campaign apparently aimed at enflaming sectarian tensions, destabilizing Iraq’s new government and forcing U.S.-led troops out of the country.

Gunmen in two cars shot to death Industry Ministry official Col. Jassam Mohammed al-Lahibi and his driver in western Baghdad’s Ghazaliyah neighborhood, police and Interior Ministry officials said.

A leading Shiite cleric, Sheik Qassim al-Gharawi, and his nephew were killed in another drive-by shooting in the capital’s New Baghdad neighborhood, according to police Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud.