The Fancy Dress Ball, or a Civil War by Any Other Name Bleeds as Much

In a tribute to Hairy Fish Nuts's ongoing desperation watch, which keeps track of virtually every official use of the word "desperate" in describing Iraqi insurgents, I am starting "The Fancy Dress Ball," which will monitor reports of kidnappings and killings in Iraq committed by people "dressed as" police, soldiers, et al.

Today's inaugural listing on the dance card is from the New York Times.

In Baghdad, two car bombs detonated Wednesday afternoon within 20 minutes, killing 3 people and wounding at least 16, an Interior Ministry official said.

Gunmen wearing the uniforms of Interior Ministry commandos and driving ministry vehicles opened fire on guards outside the Baghdad headquarters of the Iraqna cellular phone company, wounding a guard and then abducting him. [emph added]

And the band plays on.

UPDATE Here's the direct link to Hairy Fish Nuts's The Years of Lying Desperately.