U.S. scrambles to keep Kirkuk from igniting Updated  | Comment
 | Recommend E-mail | Print | A U.S. soldier secures the spot
where a car bomb exploded in Kirkuk in February. The U.S.
military tries to clean up such attacks as quickly as possible
to head off public anger. By Marwan Ibrahim, AFP/Getty Images
Iraqi girls hurt in a bombing wait at a hospital in Kirkuk on
April 2. The bombing targeted a police station near the girls'
school. It led to meetings between U.S. and Kurdish officials
aimed at easing tensions.  EnlargeBy Emad Matti, AP KIRKUK, Iraq
— When a bomb goes off here, Lt. Col. Michael Browder's job is
to make it seem like the attack never happened.  Minutes after a
truck exploded near a police station last month, Browder and his
unit immediately went to work removing the bodies of the 13
victims, among them a U.S. soldier. By nightfall, wrecked
buildings were bulldozed, charred cars towed away, and water and
power restored.  By making an extraordinary effort to repair
damage after such explosion