Ahead of the June 30 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from the country, 72 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a truck bombing near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. This was the bloodiest attack in nearly 16 months. The al-Qaeda was blamed for the attack. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice and termed the incident an “ugly crime” and “an attempt to harm security and stability and spread mistrust of the Iraqi forces1.”

• 1. “Northern Iraq truck bomb killed 72: officials,” Khaleej Times, June 21, 2009, at http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2...