Taunts, Traps and Tests

摘要

Ayad allawi wants re-spect, and for as long as anyone can remember in Iraq, that means showing that you're the toughest s.o.b. around. So when radical Shi-ite militiamen attacked a police station in Najaf, die new prime minister called on U.S. Marines to crush the rebellion. Planes bombed and strafed, and infantrymen blasted their way across a vast cemetery last week, flushing out enemies who hid amid tombs and catacombs. Before long, soldiers battled militiamen in a half-dozen cities across the south. By the time truce talks collapsed on Saturday, several hundred Iraqis and six Americans were already dead.