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A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraqi territory killed at least 50 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what appeared to be a vicious strike by al-Qaida militants bent on destabilizing the country.

The apparently coordinated bombings and shootings unfolded over four hours in the capital Baghdad — where most of the deaths occurred — and 11 other cities. They struck government offices, restaurants and one in the town of Musayyib hit close to a primary school. At least 225 people were wounded.

"What is happening today are not simple security violations — it is a huge security failure and disaster," said Ahmed al-Tamimi, who was working at an Education Ministry office a block away from a restaurant that was bombed in the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad. He described a hellish scene of human flesh and pools of blood at the restaurant.

"We want to know: What were the thousands of policemen and soldiers in Baghdad doing today while the terrorists were roaming the city and spreading violence?" al-Tamimi said.

It was the latest of a series of large-scale attacks that insurgents have launched every few weeks since the last U.S. troops left Iraq in mid-December at the end of a nearly nine-year war.

Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty ImagesAn Iraqi firefighter douses a car as security... View Full Size Marwan Ibrahim/AFP/Getty ImagesAn Iraqi firefighter douses a car as security forces inspect the site of a blast in the northern city of Kirkuk on Feb. 23, 2012. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraqi-pm-al-qaida-active
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Those of us who screamed this at the top of our lungs before we went into Iraq were branded traitors and apologists for terrorists.

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