Oh, the humanity! Iraq's shocking "Triangle of Debt"

Iraq's infamous "Triangle of Death" has transformed itself into a miasma of mortgage payments. Violence has given way to more basic human urges: like capitalism.

The U.S. military says violence across Iraq has reached its lowest level in more than four years after successes this year in breaking al-Qaida's and other Sunni insurgents' hold in western Iraq and -- more recently -- government crackdowns in the southern city of Basra and northern city of Mosul.

But the success in the "Triangle of Death", centered on the town of Iskandariyah, is perhaps the most dramatic...

The news isn't good: real estate prices are soaring; there is a limited supply of homes; and sales of desirable properties frequently result in bidding wars.

...some say it's almost impossible to find a place to live with sales prices doubling in certain neighborhoods and the most affordable homes being snatched up as soon as they're placed on the market.

"Day by day, the prices are increasing and I keep on decreasing my options," said Hussam Jassem, 35, a government worker who earns about $400 a month, a typical middle-class salary. A 750-square-foot home in a lower-middle-class neighborhood costs about $150,000. In the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Karada, a 2,300-square-foot plot of land alone costs $350,000.

I blame Bush. This capitalism thing is getting out of hand.

Hat tips: PrairiePundit and Larwyn