Palestinian leaders had predicted a wave of suicide bombings this week, during General Zinni's visit, his third after two previous attempts to broker a cease-fire failed.
More mosque bombings followed during Friday Prayer last week, and on Tuesday night, at least eight people were killed in twin bombings at a cafe and a mosque in the predominantly Shiite Al Amin area of the capital.
Despite the frequent Israeli bombings and, during the era of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, deliberate flooding and even electrocutions, the tunnel workers are unfazed by — or perhaps desensitized to — the prospect of a collapse.
The bombings came during a period of political uncertainty — negotiations to form a new government have stalled more than three months after parliamentary elections — which insurgents are seeking to exploit to destabilize the country further, American and Iraqi officials said.
A population such as London during the IRA bombings or Israel during the second intifada or Baghdad, pretty much every day, becomes inured to random political violence.
