One of the most respected judges in Iraq, Amir Jawdat al-Naeeb, was killed by gunmen in Baghdad on Monday. "The attack appeared to be part of a longstanding campaign by militants to kill doctors, professors, lawyers and other professionals," according to Richard A. Oppel, Jr. and Abeer Mohammed in the New York Times. I first heard about the phenomenon in March 2006 when I was interviewing former prisoners of Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run-detention facilities in Iraq. One of the former prisoners (he was never charged with a crime) had been a mayor in a provincial town. He was a bit of a bon vivant, chatting about art and antiques over dinner that week in the hotel where we were staying in Amman, Jordan. He said intellectuals in Iraq were being targeted by militants. "Especially the educated -- the academics," he told me. It was chilling to hear him talk -- both because of the brutality of the attacks and because of the way they are similar to movements in other countries where intellectuals have been hunted down. I am surprised the subject gets so little attention -- it is mentioned in paragraph three of the Times piece -- especially since the implications are troubling. These attacks decimate a professional class and make it tougher on those trying to rebuild society. It seems like an issue that would be important for Americans. Yet you would never know that from the scant coverage it receives. --Tara McKelvey
