Change a few words and...

Italy's Mafia Mess - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com

...you'd think this was an article straight from Baghdad.

The deputy police chief of the Naples homicide unit, Pietro Morelli, acknowledges that authorities can occupy the city's toughest slums, but they can't hold them. They can't even prevent the Camorra from setting up its own checkpoints just down the street from those of the authorities. ''When police come to get them, they melt away," says Morelli. Only a few local people will speak against the organization, and out of bitterness, not expectation of change. If peace returns to the streets, it's as likely to be the result of truces reached within the organization, as of order imposed by Rome.

I stumbled across this one quite accidentally. First step? Coming across this site (lens culture) and looking at some pics from a photo book apparently called "Made in Italy: CGIL 100." Next step? Seeing a photo that made reference to the Comorra Wars of 2005 - a term that I was patently unfamiliar with.

We have some friends who use to live in Naples while assigned to NATO...their stories of mafia influence made for interesting dinner conversation but I guess the extent of their strength didn't really sink in...