Dancing in the Streets

Posted 12:19 GMT

Mangala looked down at the joyful scenes in Baghdad, people dancing in the streets, looters carrying off Compaq computers and dragging the head from one of Saddam's statues through the street, and his heart filled with a deep sense of relief that the killing was almost over and peace was nearly at hand.

For a god a war knows war, knows the pain of war, knows the suffering of war, knows the evil of war however good its results.

"No more war," Mangala said happily. "Next, empire."