An old hotel in southwestern Samarra, just west of the Golden Mosque,
in an area that is now heavily defended by Iraqi National Police.
(Photo: Jeff Emanuel).

Samarra, Iraq
LAST WEEK, for the first time in four attempts this year, Iraqi National Police in Samarra were able to avoid being hit with a devastating suicide car bomb (or SVBIED, for Suicide Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device). Al Qaeda terrorists, attempting to drive a SVBIED up to a National Police outpost in the southwestern part of the city and detonate it, encountered a surprising amount of resistance from the National Police there, who were able to destroy the rolling bomb before it reached their position.

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