Baghdad Murders Spur Fear of Death Squads

Two attacks undertaken by men wearing the uniforms of the Iraqi Army in the last two weeks have raised fears that the sectarian violence that plagued the country several years ago has returned. Six members of a family in Baghdad, including children, were killed on Wednesday; nine days before, 13 civilians were murdered in the Abu Ghraib district. But hard details about the attacks remain difficult to discern: the victims' relatives, local officials and security officials all give different accounts, many of them seemingly sectarian. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, currently in the midst of a campaign against an election law he believes disenfranchises Sunnis, described the attacks as "the return of the death squads"; the Shiite-led government's official statements, on the other hand, say the killings are "tribal disputes." Commander of American forces in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno says there are "several different theories... That's what we have to work our way through."