And From Iraq to Israel?

Iraq Bombers Blow Up 2 Children Used as Decoys

Insurgents detonated a bomb in a car with two children in it after using the children as decoys to get through a military checkpoint in Baghdad, an American general said Tuesday.

Speaking at a news briefing at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Michael Barbaro, deputy director for regional operations at the Joint Staff, said American soldiers had stopped the car at the checkpoint but had allowed it to pass after seeing the two children in the back seat.

Agence France-Presse, quoting an unidentified American military official, said the incident occurred Sunday. The bombers parked the vehicle across the street from a school then ran away, leaving the children inside, the official told the news agency. The blast killed the children and three other civilians and wounded seven, the official said.

“Children in the back seat lower suspicion,” he said, according to a transcript. “We let it move through. They parked the vehicle. The adults run out and detonate it with the children in back.”