What kind of people would ambush a civilian SUV driving down the road, drag the charred bodies out of the burning wreckage, hack at the bodies with shovels, and then drag those bodies through the streets of town, celebrating and passing out candies? The people of Fallujah, Iraq, that’s who.

The occupants of the SUV were American contractors, whose job was to provide security for food shipments to Fallujah. Some thanks they were given. Fallujah lies in the so-called “Sunni Triangle,” named so because it is predominantly Sunni Muslim, the sect which Saddam Hussein belongs to. While “president,” Saddam kept control of Iraq amongst kin hailing mostly from the Triangle. This area has been the most troublesome area of Iraq, since the U.S.-led coalition began its liberation of the county, and has produced some 80% of violence against coalition forces. I can only assume many of the Triangle’s residents want tyranny and repression brought back to Iraq. And they want it in the name of “God.”

The savages yelled, “Long live Islam.” (Let’s pause here for a minute to figure out what Islam has to do with hacking bodies to bits.) Other Fallujah residents shouted “Down with the occupation, down with America,” and “Fallujah will be the cemetery of the Americans” and, “Revenge, revenge for Saddam.” Such a charming and civilized bunch.

They tied ropes to two of the American bodies, attached the rope to cars, and dragged the corpses through the streets of town. They hung a leg and a hand from an electric pole on the main street of Fallujah. Some residents kicked the bodies and slashed them with knives. Two bodies were strung from a bridge that spans the Euphrates river. Some Fallujah residents stoned the hanging bodies.

How were these Fallujah residents raised? What were they taught in school? What do they talk about at the dinner table? “Gee honey, I went to a great stoning today. How was the decapitation you attended? Did the kids enjoy it?”

Today’s incident was sad and terrifying. The coalition forces obviously face great obstacles in bringing democracy to Iraq. This is not a time to show weakness. They’ll have to hit back against the Sunni Triangle’s troublemakers. As one commentator said of the Triangle’s residents:

These people have the most to lose in a free Iraq because they have the most to gain under the gangsters [Saddam loyalists].