"The dead, reaching 120 in number, have been buried, and the injured, numbering over 350, have been hospitalized for treatment. All the body parts and blood have been cleaned up from the streets. Were it not for some fresh craters here and there, a few fences destroyed, doors split open, and cars and motorcycles wrecked, it would be impossible to tell that a massacre of Iraqis ever occurred [here]. One might claim it was merely a natural disaster – an earthquake, gale, or sandstorm – that hit the area and caused this record number of deaths. It's as if nothing happened yesterday in Iraq...

"The Iraqi discourse heard [yesterday] in official and public circles reflects reconciliation to this fate, anticipating more blood, and wavering between cries for vengeance and willingness to forgive. The language [used] does not place blame on anyone, either in Iraq or elsewhere...

"After all, it's just another ordinary day in the life of Iraq, one that has hardly changed the pace of life and the beat of politics, or influenced the positions of anyone in the coalition or the opposition, or of any neighboring Arab or Muslim country. [This day] will not tip the internal power balance [in Iraq] or elsewhere, nor will it affect the timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. It will not impact a single regional matter, neither the Iranian nuclear dossier, nor the Iran-Arab tensions, nor the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. It is [however] likely to deepen the Sunni-Shi'ite rift which exists in all Arabs and Muslim regions...

"It's just another day in Iraq. [These events] can reoccur tomorrow, or in a week, a month, or a year, and may well become commonplace over the next 10, 20, or 30 years. [This scene] is likely to repeat itself over the current decade, without [causing] a ripple in the political process, the elections, or the vote counts and recounts, without disrupting the doings of governments or institutions, and without one American who served in Iraq or is still there batting an eyelid.

"It is not inconceivable that American-Iranian rapprochement will be achieved, followed by reconciliation between the Arab states and Iran. It is likewise not inconceivable that Israel will launch a full-scale war in the Arab East – and all this without pause to the carnage in Iraq, which has become a recurring pattern, a tradition, an authentic heritage, and a national sport of sorts that piques public interest for a mere few hours, like any other big sports event.

"The Iraqi carnage will not cease, as it has become a blood sport that no element in [Iraq] can prevent, and which no foreign power wants to stop. Until the Iraqis wake up and bring themselves [to stop the carnage], the number of their dead and wounded will continue to rise, along with the indifference toward this gruesome sport which they have deliberately chosen as their pastime."