Iraq: melting pot of blood

Image, Michael Yon (U.S. Army): "A soldier comforts a child mortally wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul, Iraq, one of 15 Iraqis injured on Monday in a combined suicide bomb attack."

In Salon today, a feature by Juan Cole. Snip from story:



Iraq's elected Parliament finally swore in a new Cabinet on Tuesday — yet another milestone that the Bush administration hoped would represent a decisive turning point in its campaign to remake Iraq. But like the toppling of Saddam's statue, the dictator's capture, the formation of an interim government, the siege of Fallujah, the national elections, and the formation of a new government, this latest development offered little reason for hope that the bloody insurrection would subside.

Years ago, George Bush the elder explained why he did not push on to Baghdad at the end of the first Gulf War: He feared the breakup of the Iraqi state. The most dangerous fissure was and is between Iraq's majority group, the Shiites, and the formerly ascendant Sunnis. Those divisions have now exploded into a horrific guerrilla war in which disaffected Sunnis increasingly target Shiites and Kurds. In the week after the Cabinet was presented to Parliament, Sunni Arab guerrillas went on a bombing spree that left some 200 dead and hundreds more wounded.

Link (free site pass or subscription required). Link to more info on photo (Thanks, J0hnnyB).

Also, it looks like I'm the last person to discover that the photographer, Michael Yon, has a blog.