Despite the checkpoints on the outskirts, which vet each vehicle that comes into carnival - a so-called ring of steel - police retained their laid back approach where possible.
He said that despite a checkpoint outside the site of the funeral and a large contingent of personal bodyguards, "we were able to do nothing".
Iraqis complain that, despite hundreds of checkpoints, the bombers always seem to get through.
The Government maintains that these characteristics justify dispensing with probable cause at traffic checkpoints despite the Court's holding in Almeida-Sanchez.
Many of the residents who live closest to the wreckage have vowed to stay, despite the police checkpoints, the debris and the dust to clean from their apartments.
The peace plan has been troubled from the start, with government troops shelling opposition areas and rebels attacking military convoys and checkpoints despite the cease-fire.
The attacks sowed fear and sent a powerful message: The insurgents had people and explosives at the ready in the heart of the heavily fortified capital, despite its many checkpoints.
Despite prolific military checkpoints, life in the city has appeared more normal than in many other Syrian towns and cities, allowing officials to project an air of "business as usual".
Still, local officials said the assault underlined the vulnerability of Iraqi security forces and demonstrated how a small group of militants could sow chaos in a heavily protected government compound despite layers of checkpoints, blast walls, police pat-downs and vehicle inspections.
It is common for these abductions to occur in Tamaulipas along stretches of state highway, despite numerous official checkpoints.
