New Paint: No Protection From Mortars

Is it just me, or is everyone else noticing the ever decreasing shelf life of Iraqi elections...seems like the latest round turned to dust--literally--within hours:

A mortar hit a school in south Baghdad today, killing at least one child, and a suicide bomber detonated himself behind a United States military convoy, killing four civilians and wounding another 14.

The mortar attack occurred at an elementary school in the Mansur district this morning, killing the child and two security guards, and wounding at least four other children, according to a person in the Interior Ministry.

In northeast Baghdad, a suicide bomber driving a sedan blew himself up while following a convoy of American troops. There was no immediate indication of American casualties in addition to the civilian deaths. There was damage to at least one Humvee, said an Interior Ministry source.

The attacks today followed a series of attacks on late Tuesday and Wednesday that killed at least 26 Iraqis, 5 American soldiers and a British soldier.

Also, Rory Carroll, a reporter working for The Guardian, was believed to have been abducted in Baghdad, the newspaper said.

Early reports indicated that Mr. Carroll, a 33-year-old Irishman, might have been kidnapped in eastern Baghdad while he was interviewing Iraqis about the trial of Saddam Hussein.

The lethal attacks and the kidnapping may have been timed to the start of the trial. Two mortars landed in the fortified Green Zone before the trial began, and a string of explosions could be heard in central Baghdad after nightfall.

Speaking of kidnapping:

Gunmen stormed into an office of an attorney for former President Saddam Hussein's defense team and kidnapped him Thursday, Iraqi police said.

Sadoon al-Janabi was working in his office in the al-Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad when he was abducted, police said.

He had been representing Awad Hamad al-Bandar, the former chief judge of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Court, who is accused of having sentenced to death 143 residents of Dujail following a failed assassination attempt on Hussein.

So, Mr. Cheney--care to clarify "last throes" for us again?