Iraq: Shia Targeted in Massive Suicide Bombings

Four massive suicide bomb attacks targeting Shia in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 183 people April 18. The attacks indicate a coordinated campaign by al Qaeda-led jihadists to undermine the U.S. security plan in Baghdad and exacerbate sectarian tensions in the country by riling up the most rebellious of the Shiite militant groups — the al-Sadrites. A wave of retaliatory strikes will follow, and Iraq's Shiite faction will come under further strain, creating yet another roadblock to a U.S.-Iranian consensus on Iraq.