Spokesman: US Troops Detain 2 Iranians.(diplomats)

[lumpy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_detained_iranians

Iranian diplomats invited by Iraq Pres. Talabani. So much for conventional diplomtic immunity and respect for Iraq's newly acquired democratic government. It appears that Bush has taken on the role of unelected Iraqi president (dictator?)

[Kagemusha]

1. Invitation doesn't necessarily mean diplomatic immunity

but I only heard today these guys were staying with their pals at the Badr Brigade, at the behest of the titular head of the Brigade, or whatever they call it now, Corps or Organization or whatever. (al-Hakim leads the political arm, SCIRI. And they say Sadr's the big ally of Iran over there. Idiots.)

[lumpy]

2. Never the less the invitation was extended by President

Talabani, who,I assume, was democraticaly elected by the Iraqi people. Diplomatic immunity is pretty much universily respected throughout most of the planet. Most importantly, one would tend to believe that the president of a constitutional 'democratic' country, who is assumed to be supported by Geo.Bush, should be shown the respect a democraticaly elected president deserves.
It is so much easier to be a distant dictator.

[Kagemusha]

3. Immunity involves having official documents being accepted

That's technically.

Socially, seizing the honored guests of a Moslem is very, very bad stuff. And Talibani, and as of Hakim's meeting with Bush, are on "our side," making this doubly galling to them...

[lumpy]

4. Explain :"immunity involves having official documents

being accepted. That's technically". By whom? George Bush? Talabani? The UN? The Iraqi government?

[Kagemusha]

5. In this case it would be Talabani, as he is the head of state.

Diplomatic privilege is provided by the head of state. In this matter, Talibani represents the Iraqi government and the Iraqi state. In other words you must officially declare to the head of state that you are a diplomat, that you request immunity, and this immunity must be acknowledged.

I'm just saying, the technicals of that aside, this is a huge personal offense to Talibani which reduces his credibility and respectability in the eyes of all Iraqis, not just Shiites but his own Kurds as well. The Sunnis never had much use for him so it's hard to get any lower with them but that's not really the point - the point is, the leaders of TWO critical US allies in Iraq - the Kurds and SCIRI/Badr - have been personally humiliated by their hospitality being shown to be worthless, exactly at a time when they needed that credibility most.

[oblivious]

8. In the NYT article they only say one of the raids was at Abdul Aziz al-Hakim's compound.

May I know where you heard they were staying elsewhere?


Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is the leader of the largest Shi'ite bloc in Iraq's parliament. Hakim met with President Bush earlier this month at the White House.

[Kagemusha]

10. I think it's a distinction without a difference in this case...

The head of the Badr Organization probably lives in al-Hakim's compound to begin with, so what reference I read to that - I believe it was a non-NYT version of this story quoted on a Daily Kos thread, meaning it's long buried now - just needlessly confuses the matter.

I imagined it must be in Hakim's compound anyway and that guess was apparently right.

[Joanne98]

6. This was stupid.

[oblivious]

9. This is extremely provocative.

[IndianaGreen]

7. One more stupid move in a conga line of stupid moves by the US

Pretty bad when America gets to pissoff the Kurdish President of Iraq. The Kurds are the only friends we got left in that country.