When reading this realize that our equivalent to Haifa Street is Times Square

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/16419413.htm

Haifa Street in Baghdad - a timeline

Posted on Tue, Jan. 09, 2007

Associated Press

A timeline of notable occurrences on Baghdad's Haifa Street:

_Jan. 9, 2007: U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, backed by American warplanes, battle suspected insurgents for hours, and Iraq says 50 militants are killed.

_Jan. 6, 2007: Police find the bodies of 80 people, many showing signs of torture, including 27 bodies discovered near Haifa Street.

_Dec. 20, 2006: Gunmen kill Mitashar al-Sudani, a 60-year-old comedian known for his portrayal of the lighter side of life in Baghdad, as he was driving on Haifa Street.

_Oct. 29, 2006: The bodies of Iraqi state television presenter Sherin Hamid and her driver are found dumped in the Haifa street neighborhood.

_July 26, 2006: Clashes break out between Iraqi soldiers and insurgents on Haifa Street. Six insurgents are killed and 27 are detained, some of them foreign Arabs.

_July 15, 2006: Seven people are wounded after a mortar attack near Haifa Street.

http://www.startribune.com/722/story/924616.html

50 Militants Reported Killed in Iraq

Last update: January 09, 2007 – 12:42 PM

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, backed by American warplanes, battled suspected insurgents for hours Tuesday on a central Baghdad street that has been an insurgent hot spot for years, and 50 militants were killed, the Defense Ministry said. Elsewhere, a cargo plane carrying Turkish construction workers crashed while landing at a foggy airstrip in Balad, killing 34 people, Turkish and Iraqi officials said. An official at the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad said one person, a Turk, had survived but was severely injured.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi leadership was open to an increase in U.S. troops, which President Bush was expected to announce on Wednesday night in a major policy speech outlining changes in U.S. strategy. He was expected to announce an increase of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops.

"The goal is to protect Baghdad and other areas. If this is going to be achieved by an increase in friendly coalition forces, we have no objection and we support this,'' al-Dabbagh told reporters.

U.S. helicopters circled above the Haifa Street area where the fighting took place, and witnesses said they had seen the aircraft firing into the combat zone. Explosions rang out across the area, just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone.