Thursday, December 18, 2008

Iraqi officials arrested for their political affiliations

George W. Bush gave the gift of democracy to Iraq.

If, that is, you define "democracy" as a system of government under which people can be arrested for belonging to the wrong political party.

More than 20 officers of the Iraqi Interior Ministry were arrested this week over alleged links to the outlawed al-Awda party, a successor to the Baath Party, a ministry spokesman said Thursday.

[...]

Among the group were at least two generals, including Gen. Ahmed Taha Abu Ragheef, the head of the ministry's internal affairs department, and a traffic police general, the official said. Khalaf, however, said Ragheef was not among those arrested.

An elite force that reports directly to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki carried out the arrests made inside and outside the ministry, the official said.

The arrests come ahead of next month's provincial elections. Critics have accused al-Maliki of taking unilateral action against political rivals.
Bush described the shoe-throwing incident in Baghdad as a "sign of a free society."

I wonder if he thinks using your own secret police force to round up your political adversaries falls into the same category.

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