MSNBC reports (hat tip to the very left-wing Buzzflash for this one):

"In most cases, family members and hospital workers said, the motive for the abductions appeared to be nothing more than religious affiliation. Because public hospitals here are controlled by Shiites, the killings have raised questions about whether hospital staff have allowed Shiite death squads into their facilities to slaughter Sunni Arabs."

UPI quotes the victims of the families as blaming the Mahdi Army, which is controlled by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The Mahdi Army is known to have infiltrated a number of Iraqi government departments, and the Iraqi minister of health, Ali al-Shimari, is known to be a follower of Sadr.

Corruption so entrenched means that people can't win. But "mission accomplished" right? Do we forget that Muqtada as-Sadr's violence was sporadic up until 2003, and support for Sadr was waning into 2004 as average Shia people saw him as being a puppet of Iran. Now our government speaks of "hundreds of thousands" of passive Sadr supporters.

And now Sadr supporters are not only in the government, they run the health ministry. And the hospitals.

And 43 year old Sunni masons have their IVs ripped out and breathing tubes snapped in the middle of the waiting room as their bodies are riddled with bullets.

Who actually is being beaten in the war on terror?