THE NEO-CON VERSION OF PROGRESS IN IRAQ

The Ghoulish Culture Of Death In Iraq
Life In A War Zone: As Human Vultures Steal From The Dead,
The Living Get Tattoos To Identify Their Bodies

BAGHDAD, May 18, 2007 - (AP) Abdullah Jassim expected ambulances and security forces to arrive first after a blast last month near his clothing shop. Instead, it was thieves. "I saw them with my own eyes," said Jassim, who has survived a string of suicide bombings in Baghdad's well-known Shurja market. "Young men between 20 and 30 years old stole mobile phones, money and wrist watches from the dead and badly hurt."

Even mourners are alert for attack. Suicide bombers have targeted the funeral tents raditionally used by families to receive relatives, friends and neighbors. That same fear keeps relatives from going to cemeteries to bury their dead or, in some cases, even publicizing the victim's name.

A top police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said authorities were aware of looting at bombing sites and the use of stolen mobile phones to collect ransoms from families. He blamed organized criminal gangs.

...tattoo artists asked to etch IDs on people afraid of becoming an unclaimed body amid the carnage and killings.