I'll give you the key phrases and sentences from each piece; you can decide for yourself if you want to read the double-game, double-bluff, fooley intrigue of palace politics! I thought this shit went out with Saddam; it's even worse now with "democracy" from the great "liberator."
Article 1:
"Maliki... has been using arrests to consolidate power.... those arrested were a mix of Sunnis and Shi'ites.... the detainees were involved in "a conspiracy""
But there are no conspiracies, save for 19 fantastics from a cave.
"Iraqi arrests widen beyond Interior office; Official denies those arrested planned coup" by Campbell Robertson and Tareq Maher, New York Times | December 19, 2008
BAGHDAD - A senior spokesman at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior confirmed publicly yesterday that 23 of its officials had been arrested in recent days under suspicion of being affiliated with a banned political party related to Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party. The ministry, in a statement, also said the scope of the investigation was wider than originally reported, with officials in other security ministries also arrested.
But while the spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, confirmed the arrests at a news conference, he denied those arrested were involved in planning a coup. According to senior security officials in Baghdad who revealed the arrests this week, up to 35 officials in the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior ranking as high as general have been detained this week.
Was the U.S. planning on ousting Maliki and get caught? Who really cares?
I care about PEOPLE not POLITICS!
The arrests, according to those officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, included at least three generals. The officials also said that the arrests had come at the hand of an elite counterterrorism force that reports directly to the office of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The possible involvement of the counterterrorism unit would speak to the seriousness of the accusations, and several officials from the ministries of the Interior and National Security said that some of those arrested were in the early stages of planning a coup.
None of the officials provided details about that allegation. But the arrests reflect a new set of political challenges for Iraq. Maliki, who has gained popularity as a strong leader but has few reliable political allies, has scrambled to protect himself from domestic rivals as the domineering influence of the United States, his leading backer, begins to fade.
Initial accounts provided by Iraqi security officials said that General Ahmed Abu Raqeef, the director of internal affairs for the Ministry of the Interior, was among those arrested. But that account was wrong; Raqeef is part of a committee overseeing the investigation of government officials' possible links to the Ba'ath Party.
The details of the investigation, including who was leading it, were known to few members of the government until yesterday. Rumors of coups, conspiracies, and new alliances abound in the Iraqi capital a month before provincial elections. Critics of Maliki say he has been using arrests to consolidate power.
But senior security officials have said there was significant evidence tying those arrested to a wide array of political corruption charges, including affiliation with Al-Awda, or the Return, a descendant of the Ba'ath Party, which ruled the country as a dictatorship for 35 years, mostly under Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis died or were persecuted, including Maliki, a Shi'ite Muslim, by the Ba'ath Party. It was outlawed after the American invasion in 2003.
While most members of the Ba'ath Party were Sunni Muslims, as Hussein was, those arrested were a mix of Sunnis and Shi'ites, several officials said. A high-ranking Interior Ministry official said that those affiliated with Al-Awda had paid bribes to other officers to recruit them and that huge amounts of money had been found in raids.
He said there could be more arrests. Some of those under arrest belonged to the now-illegal party under Hussein's government. Maliki's office declined to comment. But one of his advisers, insisting that he not be named because he was not authorized to speak, said the detainees were involved in "a conspiracy."
--more--"Article 2:
"Maliki was using authoritarian tactics reminiscent of Hussein's regime to reinforce its power.... Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital yesterday, a senior leader in Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's populist movement was arrested at home in a joint US-Iraqi military raid"
Yeah, those happen EVERY DAY (like a ROUTINE) and yet we NEVER HEAR MUCH about THEM -- only suiciders! And it's OFF to the IRAQI TORTURE CELLS for Sadr's guy!
"Court drops coup charges against Iraqis; Evidence found to be lacking, official declares" by Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times | December 20, 2008
BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities yesterday freed most of the approximately two dozen security officers detained this week for allegedly aiding insurgents and remnants of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party, two Interior Ministry officials said.
The officials said at least 22 of the officers had been released and the rest should be let go by this morning. The detainees were freed after Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani returned to Baghdad from abroad and challenged the charges, said the officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Bolani said a judge dismissed the case against all the officers after finding insufficient evidence to charge them.... The arrests also raised fears among some lawmakers that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was using authoritarian tactics reminiscent of Hussein's regime to reinforce its power and thwart rivals.
Shortly after his arrival home, Bolani convened a news conference yesterday and denounced the arrests. "This story . . . is a fabricated one," Bolani said of allegations against the men. "It is not based on any facts, security or intelligence."
.... Elsewhere in the Iraqi capital yesterday, a senior leader in Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's populist movement was arrested at home in a joint US-Iraqi military raid, the group announced. Fareed Fadhili, the detainee, is the head of the Sadrists' new social and religious organization, Mumahidoon, which is supposed to absorb most of fighters from a militia loyal to the cleric.
--more--"Article 3: ""
"Iraq Parliament rejects draft law on non-US foreign troops" by Patrick Quinn, Associated Press | December 21, 2008
BAGHDAD - .... In another development yesterday, Maliki denied reports that there were any Iraqis in the security forces or military conspiring to launch a coup against the government. His statement came after the arrest of nearly two dozen Iraqi officials who allegedly were conspiring to revive Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party.
"Whoever talks about a coup in this country is imagining things. There are no coups in Iraq, and there is no one who is thinking about making a coup," Maliki said at a sports ceremony. He said Iraq is a democracy and there is "absolutely no place for thinking of coups while there is freedom and the people have the ability to express themselves through the ballot."
This is making me laugh hey! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
His comments came amid conflicting reports yesterday about the release of the arrested officials and whether their detentions were related to accusations they were conspiring to revive the Baath party. A judge last week dismissed the charges against all the men, the Interior Ministry said. But National Security Minister Sherwan al-Waili said yesterday 19 men were still being held. The arrest order had originally included 23 officials, but four were not detained.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani insisted for a second day, however, that the men including some from his ministry had been released. The director of Bolani's office, Ahmed Jaleel, reiterated that news of the release is correct. It was unclear why the two ministers, both Shi'ites, were offering contradictory accounts.
Late Friday, Bolani said the investigating judge ordered the officials released "because they are innocent." But Waili said the arrests and ensuing investigation were related to violations that included forgery and had "no relation with any political motivations," clouding the explanation for the arrests.
He added that "the case and charges raised have no relation with a coup as it was said but is something related to violations inside the Interior Ministry." Some Iraqi politicians had speculated the arrests were part of campaign to bolster Maliki's power before two key elections next year - at the expense of Sunnis and secular figures.
--more--"
And then POOF, nothing!
You make of it what you will; meanwhile, HOW MANY IRAQIS DIED on the ALTER of George W. Bush's occupation today?
"In the only reported violence yesterday, a suicide bomber killed an Iraqi army soldier in Mosul when he set off his bomb as a patrol passed him, the police said."
Yeah, "REPORTED" violence!
Please see Occupation Iraq: Israel's IEDs and related links, readers.
