Revenge Spree

This would be what happens during a civil war.

Shiite militants and police enraged by massive truck bombings in the northwestern town of Tal Afar went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents there Wednesday, killing as many as 60 people, officials said.

The gunmen began roaming Sunni neighborhoods in the city, shooting at residents and homes, according to police and a local Sunni politician.

Ali al-Talafari, a Sunni member of the local Turkomen Front Party, said the Iraqi army had arrested 18 policemen accused of being involved after they were identified by the Sunni families targeted. But he said the attackers included Shiite militiamen.

He said more than 60 Sunnis had been killed, but a senior hospital official in Tal Afar put the death toll at 45, with four wounded.

Remember when Tal Afar was supposed to be the great success story in Iraq? The police have been put in charge of several areas in the country, even though they are the most dangerous elements in the whole society. Maybe they're walking those streets that John McCain says you can walk down.

By the way, Maverick, the capital is NOT the country, and violence has gone up outside the capital (in Diyala province, in Baquba, in Tal Afar, for example) while remaining the same or lowering slightly inside.

You cannot put a political solution on a country whose police force often goes on revenge sprees.

UPDATE: "Walk through those neighborhoods, I never said you could walk those neighborhoods! Where'd you get that idea?"