"and kill us all"

This is an excerpt from today's New York Times, about criticism of America's slowness in implementing a plan to stop the violence in Baghdad.

Mr. Abdul Jabbar said he rushed to collapsed buildings trying to help the wounded, but found mainly hands, skulls and other body parts. “The government is supposed to protect us, but they are not doing their job,” he said. “I watch the TV and see the announcements on the imminent implementation of the security plan. Where is it, for God’s sake? I wish they would attack us with a nuclear bomb and kill us all, so we will rest and anybody who wants the oil — which is the core of the problem — can come and get it. We can not live this way anymore. We are dying slowly every day.”

It is the sensation of the condemned: Now that I know I will die soon, don't prolong the torture.

Meanwhile, politicians bicker; the rush of the Super Bowl subsides, the addict's anguish begins anew, where is the next sensation? Give me something to look forward to, to distinguish me even as I am becoming extinguished.