"Severed Lives"

Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer April Saul reports on the 24 children killed by gunfire in the eight-county Philadelphia region during 2006. Saul writes:

Nearly half appear to have been killed mistakenly - in gun accidents or by assailants aiming at others.

Almost all the rest were shot because of jealousy or perceived disrespect, or disputes over turf, drugs or girls.

"Is it just expected for the children to kill each other with guns?" asks Israe Gilliard. In July, her nephew Jarrett Gore, 15, was preparing to settle an argument with fists when he was shot by an acquaintance.

Long after rain washes the blood from the sidewalks of the city, after kids are placed in their coffins, and after T-shirts dedicated to the memory of "Mook" and "Goub" and "Gussie" are tucked away in dresser drawers - what, then, for those who loved them?

Inside Sadr headquarters

McClatchy reporters Hannah Allam and Laith Hammoudi describe their recent trip to Muqtada al-Sadr's headquarters for western Baghdad. The reporters happened to be there when a group of about 50 gunmen stormed the headquarters, initiating an armed standoff with Mahdi Army militiamen. Allam and Hammoudi write:

The groups walked toward each other as if in a high-noon duel. A voice from the crowd called for blessings in the name of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Sadr's soldiers began to shout age-old prayers for the prophet and his descendants, then added the Sadr camp's innovation: "Bring salvation soon, and damn their enemies!"

With the air filled with the clicking sound of weapons being prepared, visiting McClatchy journalists fled.

Some troops not getting needed help

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling talks to several soldiers and veterans at Fort Carson, Colo., who say the Army did not properly handle their mental-health problems. Zwerdling reports:

The Army boasts of having great programs to care for soldiers. The Pentagon has sent therapists to Iraq to work with soldiers in the field. And at Army bases in the United States, mental-health units offer individual and group therapy, and counseling for substance abuse. But soldiers say that in practice, the mental-health programs at Ft. Carson don’t work the way they should.