War on Iraq - War no way to foster democracy

THE appalling bombing of civilians at an open market in a residential suburb of Baghdad will no doubt be glossed over as an inevitable mishap of war.

Coming on day seven of the conflict, it was the first major blunder by the slowly advancing armies of the United States and Britain. The tragedy has driven home forcefully the kind of atrocity likely to be repeated with ever increasing frequency as weapons of destruction bombard the Iraqi capital.

As the death toll reached 15 last night, it added an ominous dimension to the apocalyptic landscape of a city shrouded by clouds of dense smoke and filled with the noise of incoming cruise missiles.