Dozens of Iraqis were killed in multiple bombings across Iraq earlier today, including a car bomb that claimed at least 35 in Baqubah. You can’t miss this news at the LA Times’ home page (as of 1:00pm EST). Not so at the New York Times‘ or Washington Post‘s home pages.
Per the LAT: “The blast is sure to raise questions about the effectiveness of two major U.S. military operations in Baqubah in the past year, which were aimed at pushing insurgents from Al Qaeda in Iraq out of the city.”
Perhaps anticipating such questions, a U.S. military spokesman provided this answer via the Washington Post‘s report: “‘Although attacks such as today’s event are tragic, it is not indicative of the overall security situation in Baqubah,’ said Maj. Mike Garcia, a U.S. military spokesman in Diyala. ‘This is the first suicide attack inside Baqubah in almost 90 days, and the overall violence in the city has decreased by 80 percent since June.'”
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.