hearts and minds

The insurgency in Iraq has two components. The "rebellion" against occupation, which is largely a home-grown guerilla movement against the US troops, and the "jihadist" one which is largely a foreign fighter-driven ideological movement. The latter, under command of Abu Musab al Zarqawi (LA), is the one that targets Iraqi civilians indiscriminately, like this:

on Thursday, a suicide bomber blew up his car outside a hospital south of Baghdad while U.S. troops handed out candy and food to children, killing 30 people and wounding about 40, including four Americans.

Three women and two children were among the dead in the attack outside the hospital in Mahmoudiya, a flashpoint town 20 miles south of Baghdad in the "triangle of death" notorious for attacks on Shiite Muslims, U.S. troops and foreign travelers.

Al Qaeda doesn't care about muslims. Killing children is a desperation tactic which reveals the emptiness of their rhetoric.