Dahr Jamail confirms our suspicions about the arrest of Sunni party leader Muhsin Abd al-Hamid. Besides the “horrible PR move,” Jamail asks, “Was it an attempt to raise sectarian tensions?” “It just so happens,” notes Jamail, “that his party, the Islamic Party, opposes the new US-backed security operation now engulfing Baghdad because they believe the security forces will disregard the rights of innocent Iraqis.”
Jamail continues:
The Islamic Party released a statement after the release of Abdul Hamid which said, “The U.S. administration claims it is interested in drawing Sunnis into the political process but it seems that their way of doing so is by raids, arrests and violating human rights.”
For more background, see our BooTrib story on May 30: “U.S. Arrest of Sunni Party Leader Foments Unrest.”
RubDMC’s daily diary has more from Dahr Jamail this morning — and a very poignant photo, and accompanying story.
Pretty soon the Shi’a and the Kurds will have the heavy equipment they need to do their own Falluja-style assaults. And they have the television stations to justify their actions.
I think we are trying to use the threat of this future as a bargaining chip to get the Sunnis to come to the table, but it may wind up creating a dynamic that cannot be turned off.
The Sunnis are not helping matters by going on a suicide bombing binge. Baghdadis of all sects and sizes will soon support drastic measures to restore security, and the Sunnis (guilty and innocent) will pay the price.
It’s one unholy mess we’ve created.
Very good, Boo. I just heard this on DN!’s headlines this morning:
In Iraq, three suicide car bombs killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 50 others early this morning. One attack targeted bodyguards for a deputy prime minister, another went after a U.S. diplomatic convoy, and the third killed a political leader in Baquba. Two more US soldiers were killed bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 1,666.
LA Times: Suicide Bombings On Rise
This comes as The Los Angeles Times is reporting that suicide bombings have risen dramatically over the past several months. The paper says that 90 suicide attacks account for most of last month’s 750 deaths. The Times says that suicide attacks outpaced car bombings almost 2-to-1 in May and that in April, there were more suicide attacks than in the entire year preceding the June 28 hand-over….
in response to Friedman’s analysis:
I think the analysis of internal strife between religious/ethnic sects in Iraq is presumptuous. The US occupation is the real problem and most Iraqis believe they can work out their own internal problems after the US pulls out.
I can’t stand Tom Friedman. He certainly got ridiculed for that column, didn’t he.
from Baghdad Burning:
Later that night, watching tv news, I saw the “raids on homes”. A little boy about 3 was pressed against the wall beside his family, wide-eyed as he watched men, his father, older brother, uncle (?) marched out by [US controlled] security forces.
US military, get out of Iraq!
Yup, we need to get the hell outta there. I’m past the belief that we need to stay to prevent more violence….
But of course that’s our little pipe dream. The U.S. will NOT get out of there. They have too much at stake, both financially and in terms of stubborn pride.
military bases. That would be after they shut down the
horrendous military detention camps they have established.
You are right, they keep digging the hole so deep they
will never be able to scramble out of it.
Did you see that they’re melding the 14 into some giant bases? Oh, those are going to be very, very permanent.
And the prisoners … INN World Report — I love that news show — yesterday quoted Jamail as saying that we’re now holding over 60,000 prisoners.
But, those in Iraqi-run jails are also in utter misery, I’ve read elsewhere. Dunno. Dunno.