A lot of people have started to notice that certain photographers have a marvelous talent for being right there with a camera when something awful and unexpected happens in Iraq.

This is just the latest incident in a growing list.

The key and blindingly obvious point: there are at least three photojournalists from different outfits there exactly at the time it goes off! This is not a lucky coincidence. The pictures are clearly taken less than a minute after the original explosion and less than a minute apart. Also: all of the photographers are stringers, not regular staff photographers.

Interpretation: One, this was staged, the particulars of the bomb ensure it will be ineffective and safe from the distance from which it was photographed, but visually spectacular. The people running are most likely also staged. Two, the reporters were invited to see it. Three, they knew it was staged.

My only question: who are these photographers - Ali Jasim, Ali Al-Saadi and Khalid Mohammed - really working for?

(As with all blog discussions, make sure you read all the updates. This is where the error correction process takes place. Comments are less important, usually. Some comments are insightful, but this is also where the screwballs come out of the woodwork, too.)