Meanwhile, back in Iraq

Horrific news from Iraq today: Coordinated Bombings in Baghdad Kill at Least 121. Here's what American forces are doing in the aftermath:

American helicopters, drones and airplanes circled the city in the immediate aftermath, while sporadic gunfire could be heard. In addition to the aircraft, American troops, including explosives-removal teams, joined Iraqi security forces responding to the attacks, a military spokesman, Maj. Joe Scrocco, said in a statement. In the attacks in August and October, Iraqi forces kept the Americans at arm's length, allowing them to play a minimal, and belated, role in helping assist the wounded and collect forensic evidence.

The account also notes "the attacks came as Iraq's Presidency Council announced a date -- March 6 -- for the country's long-delayed parliamentary elections." That was a good news story from Iraq yesterday:

In a last-minute compromise reached under heavy U.S. pressure, Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday approved a law on seat distribution for the upcoming parliamentary election.

<>The vote appeared to resolve an impasse that threatened to delay the election beyond the expiration of the current government and force the U.S. military to slow down the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

But that wasn't the only news from Iraq yesterday - there was also this report:

Seven children were killed and 42 wounded in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad on Monday when a bomb exploded outside a school, police said.

The explosion occurred in Baghdad's Sadr City slum as primary school pupils aged between 6 and 12 were leaving at the end of the school day, an army officer said.

For perspective, that Reuter's story also noted that overall "violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically in the past 18 months. Civilian deaths last month totaled 88, their lowest since the 2003 U.S. invasion, according to government figures."

But apparently they're on the rise again. Though certainly nowhere near the levels of 2006/2007, any increase is troubling, to say the least. If there's an upside, it's that the Iraqi government and people would prefer to handle that with minimum American involvement - something that's been apparent at least since Joe Biden's ill-adivsed visit to Iraq last July to "help the Iraqis resolve what they have to resolve."

At the time, an Iraqi government spokesman "publicly rejected the American's offer to help with national reconciliation, saying it's an internal affair." On that point there was unity. Abdul-Kareem al-Samarrai, head of the Iraq parliament's Accordance Front Sunni bloc said the issue "should be activated by Iraqis themselves not by others' recommendations." And in the streets, Iraqi citizens welcomed Joe's efforts to help them resolve what they have to resolve with demonstrations:

One of them, Mohammed Kathem, 40, an administrator, said many of the protesters hit the streets after an imam encouraged them to do so at Friday prayers.

"Biden's visit sent the signal to us that Iraq will be divided," he said. "Biden's background doesn't allow him to play any role in reconciliation."

"That's not what the prime minister said," Biden assured George Stephanopoulos after the visit. "The prime minister said that we may need you to get involved."

But by the end of July headlines indicated Iraq didn't want very much military assistance from the US either.

"U.S. Troops in Iraq Find Little Leeway" and "Americans have been taken aback by the new restrictions on their activities," reported the Washington Post. And in the Wall Street Journal:

"The basic message is, 'you're not wanted, go back to your base,' " an Army captain in Baghdad said by email.

Fast forward to December and you'll find American troops doing what they can to help. Following an explosion in Tikrit last Friday that killed four Iraqi police and an Iraqi civilian and injured 21, "helicopters were dispatched to provide overwatch security during casualty evacuation." In addition, "US soldiers provided additional security and immediate medical assistance to the Iraqi people." Beyond that, US Forces were standing by:

"We regret this tragic loss of life and are standing by to assist the Iraqi Security Forces as they investigate this attack," said Colonel Thomas James, Chief of Staff, Multi-National Division-North.

Iraqi Security Forces have taken the lead in the investigation.

For more on what the US military is doing in Iraq, click here. In the meantime, on the civilian side, according to "officials familiar with the negotiations" quoted in yesterday's Washington Post account, Americans are helping the Iraqis resolve what they have to resolve.

Kurds, who held out hope of securing additional seats until minutes before the vote, caved under heavy U.S. pressure, according to lawmakers and other officials familiar with the negotiations.

Kamal Kirkuki, the speaker of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said the three provinces that make up the autonomous Kurdish region deserved 48 seats.

Shiite and Sunni leaders refused and American officials told the Kurds they were overreaching, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

"This agreement was imposed on us through heavy pressure from the White House," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said. "They want elections at any cost."

The bombings, a coordinated assault on the capital, highlighted an ominous convergence of politics and violence, which American and Iraqi officials have long warned will mar the country's election. The vote, originally scheduled for January, was delayed by ethnic and sectarian disputes resolved only two days ago.

Five bombs, at least three detonated by suicide attackers, struck a courthouse, two colleges, a mosque and a bank. They created chaos across the city, locking down entire neighborhoods, overwhelming police and rescue workers, and filling hospitals with the wounded. In one, a woman with her hair scorched and neck bloodied, agonized as her child lay dying in a hallway.

And "American helicopters, drones and airplanes circled the city in the immediate aftermath, while sporadic gunfire could be heard..."

There's much on the line, and one might conclude that the mission of 120,000 US troops in Iraq is critical - with violence an obvious ever-present threat. Those who would launch such brutal attacks are probably well aware of Joe Biden's pledge: "President Obama asked me to return with a message -- that the United States is committed to Iraq's progress and success," Biden said in a statement aired by Iraqi state television after his meeting with Maliki. Although he also warned Iraqi officials Friday that the American commitment to Iraq could end if the country again descended into ethnic and sectarian violence.

More from Iraqpundit: "Spineless Killers"

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