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But as this physical separation between Sunni and Shiite grows, the mortars cut that gap, allowing sectarian fighters to fire into a district from a distance.
Use of mortars in civilian areas has to be treated as a reckless disregard for innocent life. Civilian populations are being targeted, and not combatants. I hope this evidence of the true nature of the enemy will educate the Euros who want to put American leaders on trial for non-existent "war crimes."
Mortars can be quickly pulled from the trunk of a car and fired over several miles, causing death and destruction without the dangers of close-quarters combat or the sacrifice of a suicide bomber.
The weapon isn't limited to sectarian violence. On Saturday, the U.S. government's office in Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, came under mortar fire, an attack that sparked a blaze in part of the complex, Iraqi police said. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties.
For Arkan Maher, a 28-year-old electrician and father, it was just another workday this week when mortar rounds crashed to earth in a market in the Sunni enclave of Azamiyah. He fell wounded in both legs, an eye and one arm.
Maher was near the Abu Hanifa mosque, Sunni Islam's holiest shrine in Iraq and a regular target of Shiite mortar teams...