Iraq--Another Day, Another Screw Up...Part 2

The mistaken arrest of a moderate Sunni leader by the Americans we reported on below has been picked up by The LA Times and Knight Ridder in the United States. The Knight Ridder report is the most complete.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military said Monday that it mistakenly detained a top Sunni political leader, drawing complaints from Iraqi authorities who say such mistakes are undermining efforts to include Sunnis in the nation's political process.


Mohsen Abdel Hamid, the secretary-general of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said a group of American soldiers came into his home around 4 a.m., ransacked it and detained him and his eight bodyguards.


Hamid, who leads the largest Sunni political party, said he was interrogated all day before he was released at the U.S. Embassy about 12 hours later. He said he learned that his three sons also had been detained. They also were released.

The Iraqi government was furious.

Iraqi officials have said the new government will not survive - and the insurgency will not be thwarted - unless Sunnis, the nation's largest minority, are included in the political process. Members of the Shiite-dominated National Assembly have reached out to Sunni leaders such as Hamid, who had agreed to participate.


Laith Kubba, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari, said it was the second time in a week that a Sunni leader has been the target of a raid shortly after engaging in the political process, although he did not elaborate. He said the troops often do not know they are detaining Sunni leaders who are part of the new government.


"This is undermining the political process, and what the government is trying to do in including the Sunnis," Kubba said.

This is just another example of incompetence at the highest levels in Rumsfeld's Pentagon. What did the military say about the mistake? Oops!!!

The U.S. military said in a statement that after it apprehended and interviewed Hamid, "it was determined that he was detained by mistake and should be released," adding "coalition forces regret any inconvenience and acknowledge Mr. Hamid's cooperation in resolving this matter."


Lt. Col. Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said he did not know how the mistake happened or what kind of investigation the soldiers were conducting.

A great way to win hearts and minds.

Hamid's arrest fueled public perception that coalition and Iraqi forces do not know how to fight the insurgency. Residents said they round up any Sunnis and call them potential insurgents.