With all of the instability (is that a good word for a war?) in Israel and Lebanon, we should take solice in the fact that Operation Clusterfuck is still going off without a hitch. According to CNN, the U.S. is cracking down on death squads.
Most death squad killings appear to be sectarian, with Sunni Muslim gunmen targeting Shia neighborhoods, and Shiite attackers going after Sunnis. Victims are sometimes abducted by the dozens, their bodies often turning up later with signs of torture.
On Monday, three bodies were recovered across Baghdad. All had been shot in the head and showed signs of being brutalized [..]
The February bombing of the Askariya Mosque, a major Shiite Muslim shrine, in Samarra set off wave of communal violence that has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.
Last week, at least 200 Iraqis were reported to be killed across the country. The United Nations estimates that at least 14,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the first half of 2006.
I’m sure it could be more awful, but I’ll try not to think about that tonight. Things more awful than most of us could ever imagine will probably happen there soon enough, so why even bother with imagination? At least we can take comfort in the knowledge that we don’t have Japan to kick around anymore.