Grief

Reuters/Ali Abu Shish

NIE: Iraq Is in "Civil War".

The Intelligence Community judges that the term “civil war” does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, al-Qa’ida and Sunni insurgent attacks on Coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence. Nonetheless, the term “civil war” accurately describes key elements of the Iraqi conflict, including the hardening of ethno-sectarian identities, a sea change in the character of the violence, ethno-sectarian mobilization, and population displacements.

I agree. Civil war doesn't quite capture the horror that we've turned Iraq into. And while we argue and dither about semantics, people continue to die there. In spectacularly horrible ways.

I chose the photo above deliberately, because that's the reality for most Iraqis, especially in Baghdad. While we natter on about the politics of the war, their hearts are being broken, one by one as they lose their children, husbands, wives, and friends to the daily violence.

I wish someone would speak for them. I can't imagine their pain.