LDT: "...a relatively quiet day."


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Length: 1:22


LOU DOBBS: The Iraqi government today said its ordered its troops to confront any effort by armed groups to break Iraqi law. That announcement a clear warning to terrorist groups that have challenged the government's authority. But the Iraqi government appears powerless to stop the violence without American help.

Michael Ware reports from Baghdad -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, it's perhaps a measure of the state of the war that on a day when 12 Iraqis were killed in attacks, two car bombs were detonated in the capital, and eight executed bodies were found across Baghdad this morning, some of them showing signs of torture, that it's considered a relatively quiet day.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces report five insurgents were killed in an attack near Baquba, north of the capital. Meanwhile, in the southern provincial capital of Amara, the Iraqi government has declared a curfew in an attempt to clamp down on Shia militia inter-violence which saw at least 16 people killed last week and as many as 90 wounded.

We're now seeing this Iraqi government attempt to flex its muscle as the Americans put increasing pressure for some sign of redress in the evergrowing insurgent and sectarian violence -- Lou.

DOBBS: Michael Ware reporting.