American Hummus

The staggering cycle of violenc which has played out in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar illustrates the complexity of the current situation in Iraq as well as the total failure of the “surge”.

Tal Afar is a mixed community of Shia, Sunni, and Kurd who have lived together for years. People got along peacefully and intermarriage was common. Tal Afar was a model of co-existence and now illustrates the total political failure which has had devastating consequences for everyone on the ground.

It was just one year ago that President Bush highlighted Tal Afar as an example of progress in Iraq.

Baghdad TV via Mosaic on Link TV

The Institute for War and Peace reporting was one of the few media outlets to report on recent incidents in Tal Afar which have played out so painfully.

Late last month, the Iraqi town of Tal Afar near the Syrian border witnessed carnage that even by Iraqi standards was extraordinarily cruel.

At least 182 people were killed and more than 200 injured when on March 27 two trucks, carrying bags of flour, exploded in a busy market in a poor Shia neighbourhood - the deadliest single strike since the fall of the former regime four years ago. The death toll rose as bodies continued to be pulled out under the debris of collapsed houses.

The bombing, for which al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility, then sparked a series of revenge killings. According to Duraed Kashmoola, the governor of Nineveh province, Shia militias in cooperation with members of the police blocked the road to the Wihda Sunni district south of Tal Afar and killed 60 Sunni residents, injured 30 and kidnapped 40, in retaliation for the bombings.

…Eighteen policemen were briefly arrested in connection with the reprisal killings, but then released “to prevent unrest” according to the governor. Later, they were re-arrested.