Iraq Explodes

The lead article in today’s New York Times is titled, “Deadliest Bombs Since ’07 Shatter Iraqi Complexes.” It describes two simultaneous suicide bombings yesterday at the Iraqi Justice Ministry and a provincial council area. As of publication, 132 people were dead and more than 520 wounded. The bombings were particularly troubling because they occurred at high-profile government buildings and because the bombers were able to pass through multiple checkpoints.

The article goes on to note that the Foreign and Finance Ministries had already been bombed in August, and this recent event has thrown a wrench into the plans of Prime Minister Maliki. He is in the midst of campaigning for the national elections in January and has tried to present the image of having turned the corner on all the past violence. He had already been removing many of the barricades around Baghdad before this bombing occurred.

The article paints an especially vivid picture of the event, at one point noting that a water main had broken, and when mixed with all the blood, it had created red pools all around the area.

Unfotunately, I don’t find these events particularly surprising. I have empathy for the people of Iraq and that troubled land, but I don’t think there’s anything the United States can do, short of becoming more involved in that quagmire of human suffering and misery. The Iraqi people must work out their own destiny, and one can only hope that events like yesterday will increase their resolve to root out those whose only real goal is to spread anarchy and hatred.