About the assassination of Ayatollah Hakim…<\/p>\n
[LINK<\/a>]<\/p>\n The first thing I saw when I signed into MSN on August 30 was a news header stating arrests had been made and the prisoners had admitted ties to al Qaeda. <\/p>\n Yet according to the NYT’s article I’ve linked;<\/p>\n Four suspects were detained, the police said, but they rejected reports quoting anonymous police sources that the suspects had been carrying identification cards from the former intelligence services or were foreigners. Officials increasingly focused on the theory that the car bomb was the work of members of the toppled government. <\/p>\n The police criticized the ayatollah’s bodyguards ? there were about 16 with him in various vehicles ? for allowing an unknown vehicle to park so close. But the general sentiment is that American forces have failed to ensure security throughout Iraq.<\/p>\n Mr. Hakim, the nephew, said the United States had insisted that the ayatollah disarm his militia, the Badr Brigade, which he had assembled over 23 years in Iran, but that the Americans had not replaced it. Only in the north, where the Kurds have been allowed their own security, does the country have any stability, he said. <\/i><\/p>\n [Cached: original link scrubbed<\/a>]<\/p>\n I’m not sure if this is the same MSNBC report I saw advertised on their home page that night, but if it is, they were irresponsible at least to run such a header and guilty of propaganda considering what the article actually ‘reports’.<\/p>\n Excerpt;<\/p>\n An Iraqi police official told The Associated Press that 19 men had been arrested in the blast probe – many of them foreigners and all with links to al-Qaida. There was no immediate confirmation from U.S. officials, however.<\/i><\/p>\n +++++<\/p>\n Two Iraqis and two Saudis grabbed shortly after the Friday attack gave information leading to the arrest of the others, said the Iraqi official, speaking to The AP on condition of anonymity. They include two Kuwaitis and six Palestinians with Jordanian passports with the remainder Iraqis and Saudis, the official said, without giving a breakdown. <\/p>\n Initial information shows the foreigners entered Iraq from Kuwait, Syria and Jordan, the official said, adding that they belong to the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam. <\/p>\n “They are all connected to al-Qaida,” the official said.<\/i><\/p>\n All on condition of anonymity and without official confirmation, of course.<\/p>\n The LA Times also floated this unconfirmed information, sorry no link. I just noticed a mention of it on Slate: today’s papers,<\/i> here<\/a> and kudos to Slate for not fronting it as fact but emphasising its unreliability as same.<\/p>\n [LINK<\/a>]<\/p>\n Conrad Black’s Telegraph<\/i> wasn’t so discriminating as it reported the arrest of 4, 2 ‘tied to al Qaeda’ according to ‘Iraqi police’. Yet as you can read in the other articles that information came from one anonymous Iraqi policeman, and had yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n [LINK<\/a>]<\/p>\n This WP article highlights that the vehicle used in the bombing sat for as long as 24 hours without being checked out.<\/p>\n Interesting since this is the third bombing in less than a month? <\/p>\n The report ends with a quote;<\/p>\n U.S. officials both acknowledge that foreign provocateurs, saboteurs, guerrillas and terrorists have infiltrated Iraq and, given the length of Iraq’s frontiers, that there is little American forces can do about it.<\/p>\n “It’s kind of unrealistic for us to think that we would be able to stop any infiltration coming into this country,” Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, said in an interview.<\/i><\/p>\n [LINK<\/a>]<\/p>\n If you haven’t visited Juan Cole to find information on this situation, go and read. Especially the section under September 01, where Professor Cole asks some extrememly relevant questions of CNN and their weekend blitz pushing the al Qaeda link.<\/p>\n [LINK]<\/a><\/p>\n This is the article currently running on many outlets, this one from the WP, concerning the alleged Saddam tape denying involvement.<\/p>\n [LINK<\/a>]<\/p>\n Finally, Reuters reports the governor of Najaf has stated 5 are being held, all with ties to Saddam’s old power structure.<\/p>\n It mentions something I read yesterday, that Bush phoned Berlusconi. If I were George, considering how Silvio the criminal is tied to the forged Niger documents, I’d be seeking advice from a different propagandist. Oh they did. CNN.<\/p>\n Professor Cole also dissects <\/a>the claim Iran was behind it. Be sure to read it.<\/p>\n And interesting that Bremer was ‘on vacation’ <\/a>according to Salam Pax. Reading all of these reports coming in I had the impression he’s on the scene.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About the assassination of Ayatollah Hakim… [LINK] The first thing I saw when I signed into MSN on August 30 was a news header stating arrests had been made and the prisoners had admitted ties to al Qaeda. Yet according … Continue reading