US officials are condemning a major arrest operation by Iraq’s Interior Ministry which netted a number of top officials with al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), saying that the Iraqi security forces failed to clear the operation with US commanders beforehand.
“These were unilateral Iraqi operations,” noted Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan, adding that there was “concern” that the US hadn’t been consulted ahead of time. The US claimed the end of combat operations in Iraq in August, but has continued to carry out combat missions.
Brig. Gen. Buchanan, who noted that no US assets were used in the arrests, cautioned that Iraqis might be “leaping too far ahead for conclusions” in saying it might mean the end of AQI, saying the group was “very resilient.”
Yet US officials have predicted the end of AQI on a number of previous occasions after launching much smaller arrest operations or after assassinating a handful of putative leaders. Though Iraq is undoubtedly over-optimistic about the impact of the arrests, the US grousing seems purely a factor of being left out of the loop.
First Wikileaks publishes documents without US permission, now Iraqi forces arrest al-Qaeda suspects without US permission…. before you know Cameron will take a lunch break without US approval!
What's going on?
Good thing the Iraq's are in charge of their own country, or are they?
Damn, the nerve of those Iraqis. Better watch it or they may have to be invaded…again.
WOW- gotta love that 'spread of democracy' and that 'standing down as the Iraqis stand up', huh? Since when does any nation need permission from another nation to secure itself within it own borders? Never mind, I forgot that special US-Israeli relationship and our need to clear our actions through them. I guess since we have another nation under our thumb we might as well be the big shots for a change just so we'll get a taste of what it's like to really be in charge.
They may have arrested the wrong leaders. As we know much of the original AlQaida was a creation of CIA and US special ops. Who knows which AQI leader belongs to which foreign spy agency.
Forget being left out of the loop, just get out of the loop and out of Afghanastan too. Why the USA thinks it should dictate to so many other nations in this world is pathetic. They should go home and salvage what they can from their ruined economy that has spent so much money on telling others how to live.
Congratulations masmanz! You hit the nail on the head. It appears that many anti-war readers still haven’t caught on to how this game is being played.
LOL masmanz- I am Spartacus.
Where do those cocky Iraqis get off thinking they can do something in their own country, without checking with their neo-colonial American masters first! The Chutzpah!