Last night gunmen attacked the Iraqi stock exchange, then took over a church after running from security forces. One hundred people were held hostage for about 4 hours. One or two policemen were killed, and about a dozen people were wounded. One of the hostages may also have been killed (reports are conflicting).
Iraq has really become a dangerous place. In general, I was all for the US troops getting out of Iraq. But at the same time, I am worried that the Iraqi military and police forces may not yet be up to the job of securing Iraq. It would be horrible if this turned into something like the civil war in Lebanon. There are already problems between the Sunni and Shi'ites, with Iran right next door, and Syria has even gotten involved. And the Kurds in the north would be happy to break away. Throw in some al-Qa'eda militants and opportunistic criminals and mix vigorously. It could take another decade for everything to settle down into some kind of stability.
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