The Odds Against

The Belmont Club ^ | December 20, 2004 | wretchard

[jolie560]

A series of pictures taken by an AP photographer show three pistol-wielding gunmen, who had earlier stopped a car carrying the election officials and dragged them into the middle of Haifa Street in the midst of morning traffic. ...

In the dramatic photo sequence one of the captives is shown lying on his side on the pavement, while a second is on his knees nearby in the street. The gunmen casually display their handguns as they shoot the two men. Both of the victims shown in the sequence wore traditional Arab headscarfs. In contrast, the attackers were bareheaded and apparently unafraid to show their faces. The entire sequence shows only two of the three victims lying dead after they were shot at close range. The final photo of the sequence shows a man standing near one of the bodies waving for help, as a U.S. Apache helicopter appears above the crime scene after the gunmen apparently melted away into the crowd.

[jolie560]

Open-day street executions do not draw much attention among Iraqis. Especially when the killers melt into the crowd, unscathed. Sounds like compliance and support of the killers to me.

[7.62 x 51mm]

Pics here in Gallery:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/20/iraq.main/index.html