I've been asking questions about the ripoff of Iraq's oil. But The New York Times reports (Feb. 4, 2007):
Mr. Abdul Jabbar said he rushed to collapsed buildings trying to help the wounded but finding mainly hands, skulls and other body parts. At one point, he discovered the remains of a close friend, who was engaged to be married.
"How would you feel if you were in this position?" he said Sunday. "The government is supposed to protect us, but they are not doing their job. I watch the TV and see the announcements on the imminent implementation of the security plan. Where is it for God's sake?"
"I wish they would attack us with a nuclear bomb and kill us all," he added, "so we will rest and anybody who wants the oil -- which is the core of the problem -- can come and get it. We can not live this way anymore; we are dying slowly every day."
The truck exploded around dusk on Saturday at a market flush with crowded food stands. The crater from the blast was large enough to hold a sedan; the blast threw the truck's gnarled engine block than 100 yards away.
[originally published at husseini.org on Feb. 8, 2007]