Iraq: what's going on here?

[Adrian II]

On the BBC web site this part about today's bombings in Iraq caught my attention. Is this a freak hit, or does it mean that Bagdad is somehow mined, moled or bugged by agents of insurgent groups?

In Baghdad, Iraqi officials said Wael Rubaie, head of operations at the Ministry for National Security, and his driver were killed on their way to work.

Maj Gen Rubaie was appointed to command a special operations room recently set up to co-ordinate the fight against insurgents across all Iraqi ministries and with the US-led multi-national force.

[Tribesman]

Is this a freak hit
Nope just a usual occurence , how many judges , police chiefs , politicians , army commanders and ministry officials have been assassinated already this year . If they want to stay safe they shouldn't leave the green zone , that way they would only have to dodge the rocket and mortar attacks .
I think it might have something to do with the general lack of law and order in this war zone .

[Adrian II]

Nope just a usual occurence (..)

Somehow I feel you don't get it. General Wael Rubaie was not some nondescript slob standing outside the wrong recruitment center sporting the wrong moustache. This man had just been elevated by the new government to the rank of Iraqi Terrorism Tsar, his command room was about to become operative, and then he got killed in a terror attack...

[Al Khalifah]

It goes to show that in Iraq no one is untouchable.

[Adrian II]

It goes to show that in Iraq no one is untouchable.

It might. But there are other possibilities.

A terrorist attack is a bloody message. We tend to stress its bloody aspect. But there is also a message in it, and messages have senders and (intended) receivers. As you say, in this case it may just have been a general message from an insurgent group to the world: nobody is safe from us.

But is may also be a very specific message from group or person X to group or person Y. In which case Iraqi security forces may have far bigger infiltration or infighting problems than was admitted until now. If this official was specifically targeted, the perpetrators must have access to schedules and procedures of security details within the green zone, government areas and elsewhere.

But yeah, let's just blame the terrorists...

EDIT

Today's The Independent has it that our man wasn't accidentally killed in some bomb attack, but deliberately shot together with his driver and bodyguard. The gunmen were firing from two separate cars, implying they were really out to get him. And it seems al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for the killing on a web site they normally use.

Iraqi and US forces had launched a major offensive in Baghdad, arresting 285 suspects, in an attempt to counter a new upsurge in violence which has left 400 dead in the past two weeks.

But the killing of Maj-Gen Rubaye, the 17th government official to be assassinated in the past month, and the latest spate of car-bombings, were being highlighted as an example of how little control the Iraqi government and its American sponsor is able to exercise.

The aim of the insurgents was now "to prove that Iraq is ungovernable", a senior British official said. "They've got very good penetration," he said.

[Tribesman]

Somehow I feel you don't get it.
Hey hey Adrian , I get it all right , do you notice that none of the categories of victim I mentioned fit into the "non descript slob in the wrong place at the wrong time " category .
Another example today , an attempt on the leading woman politician in Iraq , luckily she survived but her bodyguards are all critical , its the second assassination attempt on her , last time they killed her son .
So... do you think that the level of attempts on the lives of high profile government and security figures is the result of the terrorists getting lucky or is someone in power passing on information of their movements ?
As it is probably the latter , what can be done about it ? De Baathification , de Iranianification, de Syrianification , De Kurdification , De Shiteification , de Sunnification .
There are a lot of people in power who want the process as it is now to fail . How can they be got rid of ? ...They can't .
Once again the lack of long term planning beyond the "lets invade and kick some butt" comes to the fore . How can you have a secure united country when some of the people in power have the stated aim of breaking the country apart ?

Should they adopt a fortress mentality and stay in the green zone ? It does seem to be the only place where they can be reasonably safe . Though it is a little hard to try and run a country if you cannot venture past the barricades .