Major turmoil in Iraq...not good.

An Iraqi man mourns the loss of his two brothers killed in a double car bomb attack in Baghdad.


It's been kind of a good news day so far, but not in Baghdad. Moqata al Sadr's Shia Mahdi Army went on a rampage over the weekend. On Sunday, Shia militants carried out a virtual pogrom of Sunnis on several streets of Baghdad's Jihad district. They conducted house-by-house searches, killed at least 41 Sunnis and torched many houses.and executing them. Phony `police checkpoints' on Baghdad's streets are also being used by the militiamen to find people to kill. Earlier, 25 people were killed in two car bomb attacks outside a Shia mosque. Over sixty people were murdered in Baghdad alone this weekend.

Dozens of Mahdi army militiamen are reported to have gone into the Ghazaliya district after dark to attack two Sunni mosques.

Blogfriend Mohammed at IRAQ THE MODEL provides a first hand look at how the checkpoints are operating.

The key to the situation, of course, is Iran, who arms and backs the Shia militias. It is to Iran's advantage right now to have turmoil in Iraq, to tie the US and its allies up militarily, to distract from Iran's nuclear ambitions and to hold the situation hostage.

Say a prayer for the Iraqi people...they could use them.