Yet it would be a mistake to think that this bloodlust represents widespread sentiment among Iraqis. While neither American nor Iraqi security officials have yet found a way to tame the militias, the Iraqi public is increasingly drawn toward a vision of a democratic, non sectarian government for the country.

NEW DELHI On July 30, Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant and the brother of a notorious gangster now living in self imposed exile, was hanged for complicity in the planning and execution of serial bomb blasts that killed 257 people in Mumbai in 1993. The hanging, India s first in three years, has prompted reactions ranging from dismay to scarcely concealed bloodlust.