Iraq's Downward Spiral

Civil war in Iraq:

Ali phoned me on Tuesday night, about 10.30pm. There were cars full of gunmen prowling his mixed neighbourhood, he said. He and his neighbours were frantically exchanging information, trying to identify the gunmen.

Were they the Mahdi Army, the Shia militia blamed for drilling holes in their victims’ eyes and limbs before executing them by the dozen? Or were they Sunni insurgents hunting down Shias to avenge last Sunday’s massacre, when Shia gunmen rampaged through an area called Jihad, pulling people from their cars and homes and shooting them in the streets?

As if on cue:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen sprayed grenades and automatic weapons fire in a market south of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 50 people, mostly Shiites. The sectarian attack drew an angry protest from lawmakers who accused Iraqi forces of standing idly by during the rampage.

Women and children were among the dead and wounded in the assault in Mahmoudiya, hospital officials said. Late Monday, police said they found 12 bodies in different parts of town — possible victims of reprisal killings.

Iraqis are fleeing in droves and the U.S. military can't seem to contain it.

Why does the U.S. insist on essentially handling this alone? It's time that a truly international coalition force intervene, if the true purpose is to stabilize Iraq and not merely to claim a stake in the Middle East.

Image: AFP/Ali Yussef.

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