Massacre

I am heartbroken, and broken-spirited about the shootings at VT today. I don't even know how to talk about it. It descends to the realm of unspeakable. I can't bear to think how I would feel if my child was gunned down in such a terrifying way, in such an insane manner, for no reason. It is horrifying.

I know the nation's hearts and minds are focused on this loss. There will be an outpouring of support and concern from Americans. But, I must say to this outpouring, that if we also focused the same incensed feelings on the loses of mostly innocent Iraqis and decent American soldiers in the Middle East, we could end the war. Our separation from the horror of Iraq, and for that matter the suffering of Palestinian's, makes us less able to identify with them. If Iraq was being covered with the thoroughness of the Blacksberg tragedy, people would be in such revulsion they would change the world. But because there is no thorough coverage, we are able to turn away from that catastrophe.

One way to grasp what is happening to innocent, men, women and children on a daily basis in Iraq is to read what is happening. I have included below, what happened in Iraq, just today as reported in this blog.

The horrifying loss of our American children, can lead us to understand the horrifying loss and suffering of the people in Iraq. This understanding could energize the public to insist on getting us out of Iraq. No more senseless death, anywhere.


TODAY IN IRAQ

BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed a U.S. soldier on patrol in southwestern Baghdad, the U.S. military said. One other soldier was wounded. A roadside bomb also killed a U.S. soldier and wounded another in southern Baghdad.

BAGHDAD - Coalition forces killed an armed man during a raid in Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said. The military was investigating claims by local Iraqis that the dead man was an airport highway security guard. Four armed men with suspected ties to al Qaeda were detained during the raid.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi army has killed seven insurgents and arrested 83 others in the past 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

BAGHDAD - The bodies of 30 people who had been shot were found in different districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.

BAGHDAD - The final death toll from two car bombs in a mostly Shi'ite district in southwestern Baghdad on Sunday has risen by two to 17, with 50 wounded, police said.

BAGHDAD - The death toll from a car bomb targeting a police patrol on Sunday has risen by four to nine, with 17 wounded, in the predominantly Shi'ite district of Karrada, police said.

RAMADI - U.S. forces killed three Iraqi policemen on Monday in a case of friendly fire during a raid against suspected al Qaeda militants in Ramadi, the U.S. military said. It said American forces had come under small arms fire and returned fire. Seven insurgents were arrested.

MAHMUDIYA - Mortar rounds killed three people and wounded 18 in Mahmudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR HIMREEN - Gunmen kidnapped nine workers and killed one on the way to Himreen, about 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

FALLUJA - The bodies of seven people were found shot in the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, police said. There were signs of torture

FALLUJA – US military base was attacked by five mortar shells. No reports of injuries.

HAWIJA - Gunmen killed the imam of a Sunni mosque in the town of Hawija, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

HAWIJA - The bodies of three people were found tortured and shot near the town of Hawija, police said.

BAIJI - Gunmen killed a tribal leader and wounded his son on a road near Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad, police said.

MOSUL - The bodies of six people, including a policeman, who had been shot were found in different districts of Mosul, police said.

MOSUL - Police in Mosul said the death toll from an attack by two suicide truck bombers outside an Iraqi military base on Sunday had risen to six. The U.S. military said four Iraqi soldiers were killed and four others wounded.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed Talal al-Jalili, the Dean of the Political Science College, in a drive-by shooting in Mosul, police said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed Mohammed Abdullah al-Zubaidi, a senior member of the former Baath party in western Mosul, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a medical source at the Mosul morgue said.

MOSUL - Gunmen killed 13 soldiers and wounded four in an attack on an Iraqi army checkpoint near Mosul, police said.

MOSUL – Gunmen killed Dr. Jaafar Hassan Sadeq, a professor form the Faculty of Arts of Mosul University.

ISHAQI - Gunmen kidnapped five civilians in their cars in Ishaqi, police said.

ISHAQI - A suicide car bomber targeting a police directorate killed nine people and wounded 10 others in Ishaqi, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad. Ten cars were destroyed.

KIRKUK - Gunmen assassinated an imam and severely wounded his son in an attack in the district of Huweija in Kirkuk, while policemen found three unidentified bodies on the road linking Huweija to Kirkuk city, Iraqi police said.

KURKUK - A policeman was wounded while trying to defuse an explosive charge in southern Kirkuk, while another device went off near a police traffic patrol, severely damaging one of the vehicles, a Kirkuk police source said.

KUT – U.S. forces arrested two people who set up a fake checkpoint in northeastern Kut, while an explosive charge targeted a house in the city but left no casualties, eyewitnesses said.

ZAKHU (Dahuk) – Border forces in Zakhu, Dahuk province, arrested 12 people from the area of Sinjar in Mosul, near the Iraqi-Turkish borders, for attempting to enter Turkey illegally, an official source said.