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含汽车炸弹在内的一系列袭击事件，导致近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，其中包含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第三成为反美袭击武装枪口下的牺牲品。联合国官员警告说，假如伊局势继续恶化，将不可能如期举行大选。外电报道如下：Gunmen ambushed1 a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammo dump near Tikrit on Sunday, killing2 17 and raising the toll3 from three days of intensified4 and bloody5 insurgent6 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 militias8, 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 influential9 Sunni clerics in demanding that the vote be postponed10 by six months.
Ambush表示埋伏；伏击，比如：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筹备凌晨发起攻击。）The militia7 succeeded in ambushing11 the invading enemy soldiers.（民兵们成功地伏击了入侵的敌军。）
