12月份以来，伊拉克的暴力浪潮此起彼伏。4日，摩苏尔和巴格达发生了包括汽车炸弹在内的一系列袭击事件，造成近40人丧生；次日，伊拉克北部一些城镇发生惨烈的流血事件，50多人伤亡，其中包括提克里特为美军基地工作的17名平民。与联军合作的伊拉克平民和伊国民卫队再次成为反美袭击武装枪口下的牺牲品。联合国官员警告说，如果伊局势继续恶化，将不可能如期举行大选。外电报道如下：Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammo dump near Tikrit on Sunday, killing 17 and raising the toll from three days of intensified and bloody insurgent attacks to at least 70 Iraqi dead and dozens wounded.

The attacks, focused in Baghdad and several cities to the north, appeared to be aimed at scaring off those who cooperate with the American military - whether police, national guardsmen, Kurdish militias, or ordinary people just looking for a paycheck.

The violence came just weeks after the United States launched major offensives aimed at suppressing guerrillas ahead of crucial elections set for Jan. 30. Later Sunday, several small Sunni Muslim groups joined more influential Sunni clerics in demanding that the vote be postponed by six months.

Ambush表示“埋伏；伏击”，例如：The commander ambushed his troops in the woods for the morning attack.（指挥员把他的部队埋伏在树林里准备凌晨发起攻击。）The militia succeeded in ambushing the invading enemy soldiers.（民兵们成功地伏击了入侵的敌军。）