Iraq blasts kill 147, shake faith

The dead included 35 employees at the Ministry of Justice and at least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, the Associated Press reported. At least 721 people were wounded, including three American contractors.

The attack, staged in heavy traffic during the morning rush hour, was the worst in Baghdad since 2007.

Along with an Aug. 19 attack that killed about 100 people, insurgents have now wrecked several pillars of the state’s authority: the Foreign, Finance, Justice, and Municipalities and Public Works ministries, as well as the Baghdad provincial headquarters, which are all in a fortified swath of downtown.

The Interior Ministry said yesterday’s bombing was carried out by suicide bombers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Unlike the attacks in crowded mosques, restaurants, and markets, aimed at igniting sectarian strife, these blasts appeared to rely on a distinctly political logic.

In elections scheduled for January to choose a new parliament, Maliki has staked his future on having restored a semblance of security to the war-wrecked country. In the street yesterday, where blood and ashes mixed with water surging from broken mains, that claim seemed as tattered as the forlorn facades of the targeted buildings.

“It is a clear message to Maliki’s government that it cannot control the situation,’’ said Wihda al-Jumaili, a Baghdad Provincial Council member opposed to Maliki’s faction.

The street where yesterday’s blasts occurred had been reopened to vehicle traffic this summer. Maliki had pointed to the change as a sign that safety was returning to the city.

Hours after the attacks, spaced less than a minute apart, Maliki visited the scene, where cars caught in traffic jams were turned into tombs, their passengers incinerated inside.

As in August, he blamed former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party and the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq, although in a sign of the uncertainty that prevails in Baghdad, others levied charges against the full spectrum of Iraq’s neighbors and parties.

“The cowardly acts of terrorism, which occurred today, must not weaken the resolution of Iraqis to continue their journey and to fight the followers of the fallen regime, the Ba’athists and Al Qaeda,’’ Maliki said in a statement released by his office.

In Washington, President Obama condemned the attacks, saying the United States “will stand with Iraq’s people and government as a close friend and partner as Iraqis prepare for elections early next year.’’

The blasts came at a precarious moment in Iraqi politics. Parliament has yet to agree on legislation to organize the planned Jan. 16 vote, despite warnings by the United States and the United Nations that time will probably run out by next weekend. Critics have also complained that some of the key officials charged with security - Maliki and Interior Minister Jawad Bolani - are more engaged in the election than in running the country.

“Security officials are busy with politics,’’ said Asma al-Musawi, a parliament member from a bloc allied with cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose followers represent one of Maliki’s main challengers in the coming election. “Now everybody’s accusing everybody else.’’

Violence has receded across much of Iraq since the height of the sectarian war. With little fear, drivers ply the roads of provinces like Anbar, once the cradle of the insurgency. But the bombings in August, as well as yesterday’s, revealed a remarkable prowess in logistics and planning.

The government buildings attacked yesterday were well fortified, tucked behind rings of checkpoints.

The targets seemed to reflect an older chapter of the insurgency, when attacks were less frequent but often more devastating. “This was a bloody and painful attack,’’ said Abbas al-Bayati, a Shi’ite lawmaker who plans to run with Maliki’s bloc in January. “We need to reassess our security and redeploy our armed forces. We need technical assistance from the Americans.’’

In the wake of the earlier attacks, Maliki’s government arrested several army and police officers, accusing them of negligence. Officials also promptly claimed to have detained the culprits, and they aired a video of a man who confessed to organizing the attacks. But US officials later cast doubt on the veracity of the arrests and the confession.

At the time, Maliki faced criticism that his administration had prematurely scaled back security measures in Baghdad. His detractors have also lambasted him for being overconfident in his security forces’ readiness as American forces pull back from the cities in preparation of a larger withdrawal by next August. Yesterday, Maliki’s aides defended the prime minister’s performance.

“We are heading toward elections and it’s normal Maliki’s political opponents will look for anything to blame on the government,’’ said Sami al-Askari, a parliament member and adviser to Maliki. “Even when US forces were inside cities, they couldn’t stop car bombings.’’

But in the streets, public sentiments seemed to hew to the logic of the blasts, raising doubts over the government’s ability to protect Baghdad. At the scene, bystanders grew angry as high-ranking police and army officers visited the devastated ministries, surrounded by security details of dozens of men.

“Who has trust in the government?’’ Ahmed Abed asked. “Why should I have trust?’’