Policeman dies a hero smothering bomb blast

LA Times ^ | February 3, 2007 | Louise Roug

[Mount Athos]

AN IRAQI police officer was the hero of a suicide bomb attack in a crowded market street when his brave action perhaps saved dozens of lives in the southern city of Hillah. Even so the death toll was put at 60.

Mohammed Raad and his friends, Ali and Abdullah Sami, had just left a nearby gym when the first explosion ripped through the market overturning carts and blowing out shop windows.

Over the chaos, Mr Raad clearly heard a police officer shout "suicide bomber".

He saw the officer run towards a man who had opened his jacket to reveal a belt of explosives. With a last heroic gesture, the policeman threw his arms around the bomber, shielding others with his own body from the force of the second blast, according to Mr Raad and other witnesses. "He hugged him and the explosives tore apart both bodies," Mr Raad said.

On the city's main street, families had been walking among the market stalls, finishing their weekend shopping. Mr Raad, a 19-year-old high school student, and his friends were heading towards a stationery shop.

A rueful Mr Raad then described how he raced from the scene without looking back, leaving his friends, who were knocked down by the second explosion. "I ran, and I just left them there," he said.

The bombs that struck the busy Shiite Muslim market on Thursday also wounded 150, police said. Fortunately, Mr Raad said, his friends were not among the dead.

Bombings, mortar attacks and assassinations around other parts of Iraq on Thursday left more than 40 other people dead, authorities said.

It was the third such attack in the heart of Hillah in two years, and the second on Maktabat Street, for which Mr Raad blamed Sunnis.

[SmoothTalker]

A true hero. It would be a crime for us to pull a Hagel and abandon his kind to the terrorists in Iraq.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Doctor Raoul]

Concur, this man is a hero.

[NonValueAdded]

well said

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

[Eagles6]

"A rueful Mr Raad then described how he raced from the scene without looking back, leaving his friends, who were knocked down by the second explosion. "I ran, and I just left them there," he said."

This person, on the other hand, would be a hero to ted "the swimmer" kennedy, jon "effing" carey, murtha, et al....

[ellery]

Condolences to this heroic man's loved ones.

[Wilhelm Tell]

A certain leftist former TV show host would have smugly called the bomber a hero and he would have called the policeman a coward.

[Valin]

BUMP!

[fatima]

Thank you SandRat(((Hugs))))

[Eagles6]

I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head.

[gleeaikin]

I hope that those who rant that all Muslims are evil, realize that some are also heroic. Life is seldom black and white, unfortunately the Iraq situation is grayer than most.

[Southack]

A few more heroes like this policeman and the normal Iraqis will free their country of terrorists and their suicide-bomber lackeys.

[SandRat]

What a glorious way to end a day.

I get FRhugs on my last ping check before heading off to bed.

[fatima]

(((hugs)))

[Loud Mime]

one doesn't get more heroic than that.

Praise the policeman, damn the democrats of our nation.

[California Patriot]

"A true hero. It would be a crime for us to pull a Hagel and abandon his kind to the terrorists in Iraq."

Well said. Mega-dittoes.

[Blue Jays]

That police officer and his family are in my thoughts this evening. Certainly a true hero.

[Stonewall Jackson]

This man was overflowing with courage and honor, two things that most Dimocrats completely lack.

[nutmeg]

Iraqi hero ping...

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[mockingbyrd]

Rest in peace.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

May God bless the policeman and his family.

[MEG33]

A real hero,,May God comfort all who mourn.

[Eclectica]

May God bless the policeman and his family

Too few Heroes...Too many Democrats...

[BuffaloJack]

GENUINE HERO WITH GRIT.

[reagan_fanatic]

Oh my God.

My prayers go out to this brave man and to his family. May they, in their terrible grief, understand and realize just how much of a hero he really was.

[SandRat]

Tight Squeeze Hugs from little arms are the best!