two-twenty

baghdad bigtop

Just when we thought Iraq couldn't get any scarier, a bunch of clowns have decided to take a circus there.

Circus2Iraq began scaring the crap out of entertaining children of the war-torn country after realizing "People are traumatised, tired and worn down by years of war and sanctions and are still without many basic necessities, despite the obligations of the occupying powers to provide humanitarian items."

"We're not aid workers," their website says, "and, in any case, Iraq is a wealthy country which doesn't need charity. We think the best thing we can do is bring a bit of colour, a bit of normality, a bit of playfulness and make people smile.

Two-twenty would like to point out that there is nothing normal about clowns. That said, even our hard hearts were tempered by Fish Eye, Jo, and Devilstick Peat's humanitarian effort. We would like to suggest that in addition to the juggling scarves, red noses and kazoos they request on their wishlist, the following items might be of use:

• ringmaster trained by special forces
• armored clown car (it's a lot easier to get to the kids in one piece if you're protected by three inches of steel plating!)
• mine mattresses (clown shoes are kind of big!)
• multi-colored kevlar jumpsuits (the kevlar's for the bad guys, the pretty colors are for the kids!)