So do George Bush and the Republicans still want the fall elections to be a referendum on how well things are going in Iraq?
The violence included a suicide bomber who blew up his car as it was being towed near a police checkpoint in Mahmoudiya, south of the city, killing four civilians and injuring 15. The bomber had claimed his car broke down and hired a tractor to tow it while he rode inside, police Capt. Rashid al-Samarie said.And that's just one day.
A mortar barrage also hit a residential area in Mahmoudiya, a predominantly Sunni town about 20 miles south of Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding three.
In Baghdad itself, a mortar shell hit one of Baghdad's best known markets, in the predominantly Shiite suburb of Kazimiyah, killing at least four people and wounding 13, police said.
About a half hour later, two people died and 24 were wounded when a bomb left in a plastic bag exploded at an outdoor market where secondhand goods are sold in central Baghdad.
Police said a suicide bomber targeting an Iraqi army patrol near Wathiq Square in the same neighborhood killed seven people when he blew himself up.
A parked car bomb in southwest Baghdad killed six people and wounded 36, police said.
Three mortar rounds hit a popular open-air market in the al-Bour area of northern Baghdad, killing two and wounding 14.
One other person died from a roadside bombing.
