the bbc reported today that 12 barbers have been murdered this month in Basra. I couldn’t find a recent news source on the web, but there was this from the Indy.
The revolt in Iraq against the occupation has been confined hitherto to the five- million-strong Sunni community. The growing unpopularity of al-Qa’ida in Iraq among the Sunni is partly a revulsion against its massacres of Shia by suicide bombers that lead to tit-for-tat killings of Sunni.
It is also because al-Qa’ida kills Sunni who have only limited connections with the government. Those killed include minor officials in the agriculture ministry, barbers who give un-Islamic haircuts and garbage collectors. The murder of the latter is because it is convenient for al-Qa’ida to leave large heaps of rubbish uncollected on roadsides in which to hide mines.
and this from march in the NYT
It was almost closing time in Sadiq Abdul Hussein’s barbershop when a man in a black mask walked in, pulled out a pistol, and began spinning it on his finger, cowboy style.
The gunman was not after government officials or American collaborators. He had come because of the way Mr. Hussein cut hair.
increasingly i’ve come to realise that i live in a world created by kurt vonnegut.
