Killing Field Without a Scorecard

A dozen Sunni tribal leaders died in a Baghdad bombing yesterday, and we’re still waiting for the terrorists to tell us who did it and why.

Hannah Allam, the McClatchy newspapers’ bureau chief, reports today: “As of late Monday, al Qaida hasn't claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing on the Internet message boards it typically uses, leading some tribal leaders to wonder whether another enemy might have targeted the meeting.

“Possible suspects range from Shiite groups such as the Mahdi Army to (Sheik) al Gaood's tribal comrades, who'd accused him of dealing behind their backs. News reports quoted at least one member of the Salvation Council, the group of tribal leaders who've pledged to hunt insurgents with ties to al Qaida, as saying that al Gaood and the other sheiks who were killed Monday had been dismissed from the group because of side deals they made with the Shiite-led Iraqi government.”

Our young people there are in harm’s way without knowing who’s who or what they can do to quell violence from too many sources to keep track of in a land of “shifting alliances, missed opportunities and lives ended in murky circumstances.”