Iraq Releases Hezbollah Operative Who Killed Americans

[Marauder06]

http://news.msn.com/world/iraq-releases-us-captured-hezbollah-operative-daqduq

This removed any doubt that I had about whether or not Iran owns Iraq now.

"Hey, America, thanks for removing the biggest obstacle to our regional hegemony! Hugs and kisses!" -Iran

I guess there was "no reason for his detention" because he was just in Iraq as a tourist, right? Wrong. Read the news reports. This guy was basically a Tier-1 operator for Iran. He was intimately involved in well-planned and well-executed attack that killed a handful of Americans. The kind of attack that your basic, everyday insurgent group probably couldn't have pulled off. But one with state-sponsored training and materiel support can. And did. Now he's loose again, and probably back in Lebanon already. Oh well, maybe the Israelis will have the balls to kill him, since we didn't.

BAGHDAD — Suspected Hezbollah operative Ali Mussa Daqduq was freed by Iraqi authorities and flew to Lebanon Friday after an Iraqi court acquitted him of involvement in the killing of five US soldiers, his lawyer said.
The move was likely to anger the United States, which handed Daqduq over to Iraqi custody last December after failing to convince Baghdad to extradite him over his role in a 2007 kidnapping that ended in the killing of the soldiers.
"There was no reason for his detention. Last night the decision was made to release him. He is out now and arrived in Beirut two hours ago," lawyer Abdulalmehdi al-Mutiri told Reuters by phone. "There are no charges against him in Iraq. His detention was political, not legal."
Earlier this year, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Reuters he had received assurances from Iraq it would not release Daqduq, even though an Iraqi court had cleared him of the charges.
The fate of Daqduq became a source of tension between Baghdad and Washington last year as the US military prepared to withdraw from Iraq.
Daqduq was captured in March 2007 and initially said he was a deaf mute. US forces accused him of being a surrogate for Iran's elite Quds force operatives and say he joined the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah in 1983.

 

[AWP]

I'll still transfer my hate to Pakistan though I reserve the right to bookmark Iran and Iraq for future rage.

 

[Ranger Psych]

I've got them all bookmarked for when the low orbit ion cannon comes online. Just need to build my control center.

 

[RackMaster]

We'll need a new place to send our garbage soon enough...

 

[Kraut783]

We never learn.....

Next country that causes us issues and we go to war with them......let's not spend tons of money and rebuild the country....just leave it as it is.

Might give the next country second thoughts........just saying.

 

[Crusader74]

http://news.msn.com/world/iraq-releases-us-captured-hezbollah-operative-daqduq

This removed any doubt that I had about whether or not Iran owns Iraq now.

"Hey, America, thanks for removing the biggest obstacle to our regional hegemony! Hugs and kisses!" -Iran

I guess there was "no reason for his detention" because he was just in Iraq as a tourist, right? Wrong. Read the news reports. This guy was basically a Tier-1 operator for Iran. He was intimately involved in well-planned and well-executed attack that killed a handful of Americans. The kind of attack that your basic, everyday insurgent group probably couldn't have pulled off. But one with state-sponsored training and materiel support can. And did. Now he's loose again, and probably back in Lebanon already. Oh well, maybe the Israelis will have the balls to kill him, since we didn't.

Why didn't he end up in Cuba?

 

[Marauder06]

Because all of his friends, his wives, and his money from Iran are all in Lebanon.

Oh, you mean why didn't WE send him to Gitmo. ;) Because Iran told them not to. Yeah, it was something about turning sovereignty of Iraq, "Screw you America, I know you're occupying our country but you told everyone "Iraq is sovereign now, it's a functioning country," etc., so all of your "detainees" have to go through the Iraq justice system" <snicker, snicker>

 

[Crusader74]

Because all of his friends, his wives, and his money from Iran are all in Lebanon.

Oh, you mean why didn't WE send him to Gitmo. ;) Because Iran told them not to. Yeah, it was something about turning sovereignty of Iraq, "Screw you America, I know you're occupying our country but you told everyone "Iraq is sovereign now, it's a functioning country," etc., so all of your "detainees" have to go through the Iraq justice system" <snicker, snicker>

All your bases belong to me..muhahaahahahha!!!1

 

[Rapid]

Here's a little bio, just to show the importance of the person they just released.

• Ali Mussa Daqduq, a member of Lebanese Hezbollah, was a key figure among the Special Groups in Iraq from May 2006 – March 2007.
• Daqduq had an impressive military career in Lebanon prior to his work in Iran and Iraq. He joined Lebanese Hezbollah in 1983, shortly after which he was appointed to command a Hezbollah special operations unit. Moving quickly up the ranks, he coordinated operations in large sectors of Lebanon and was also responsible for coordinating the personal security of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.[1]
• Through Iranian sponsorship of Iraqi paramilitary proxies, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force (IRGC-QF) sought to replicate the model used by Lebanese Hezbollah and began training Iraqis in groups of 20 – 60 to function as a unit, or “special group.” [2] In May 2006, Daqduq was sent to Iran with Yussef Hashim, a fellow Lebanese Hezbollah member and head of their Special Operations in Iraq, to train these Iraqi Special Groups and organize them according to a Hezbollah-style structure.[3]
• During his time in Iran, Daqduq was in contact with Quds Force Commander Qassem Suleimani as well as his Deputy Commander and head of the Department of External Special Operations Hajji Yussef, acting as a key conduit between Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran.[4]
• IRGC-QF instructed Daqduq to make trips in and out of Iraq to report on the training and operations of the Iraqi Special Groups. In the year prior to his capture, Daqduq made four such trips to Iraq. He monitored and reported on the training and arming of special groups in mortars and rockets, manufacturing and employing IEDs, and kidnapping operations.[5]
• In June 2006, IRGC-QF appointed Qays al-Khazali as the head of Special Groups in Iraq. At the time, Khazali was the commander of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), an Iranian-backed militia group that he founded in 2006 following a split from Moqtada al-Sadr and his Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) over a challenge for leadership of the Sadr movement and its militant wing. Daqduq was named his chief advisor and served as a liaison between the IRGC-QF and the Special Groups under Khazali’s leadership.[6]
• On January 20, 2007, AAH gunmen with American-looking uniforms, vehicles and identification cards successfully attacked the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) where U.S. and Iraqi officials were holding a meeting. The gunmen killed five U.S. soldiers and wounded three more in the well-planned and executed attack, which was purportedly orchestrated by Daqduq.[7]
• Intelligence gathered from the attack ultimately led to the capture of Khazali, his brother Laith Khazali, and Daqduq in Basra on March 20, 2007.[8]
  • When he was captured, Daqduq had detailed documents that discussed tactics to attack Iraqi and coalition forces. He also had a personal journal that showed his involvement with extremist operations in Iraq and meetings with special group members who were targeting other Iraqis and coalition forces in the Diyala province using IEDs, as well as small-arms fire.[9]
  • In March 2009, reports revealed that AAH and the Iraqi government were involved in negotiations aimed at bringing the militant group into the political process. The negotiations included discussions on a phased release of hostages being held by AAH in exchange for the release of top AAH members being held in U.S. custody.[10]
  • In June 2009, Laith Khazali was transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody and subsequently released. [11]
  • In December 2009, Qais Khazali was transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody. He was released on January 5, 2010 and traveled to Qom, Iran shortly thereafter.[12]
  • On December 17, 2011, Daqduq was transferred to Iraqi custody, a move that sparked political controversy in the U.S. as many politicians feared that he will only face minor criminal charges in an Iraqi court.[13]
  • According to Lebanese news reports, a delegation of Lebanese Hezbollah members visited Iraq to meet with high-ranking members of the government to discuss Daqduq’s release.[14]

UPDATE- March 2, 2012

• On January 3, 2012, military prosecutors prepared a charge sheet accusing Daqduq of crimes including murder, perfidy, terrorism, and espionage.[15] Brigadier General Mark S. Martins, the chief prosecutor of the commissions system, has not yet approved the charges. If he does, Vice Admiral Bruce MacDonald, the official in charge of the U.S. military commissions, would decide which charges to refer for trial.
• In the same month, Commander Patrick J. Flor of the Navy was assigned to represent Daqduq. He has requested permission from the Pentagon to visit Daqduq in Iraq and view the evidence, but has not received a response.[17]
• The charges against Daqduq were revealed publicly on February 23, 2012. Since these new developments, the military has refused to comment on whether the U.S. is actively seeking Daqduq’s extradition.

UPDATE – May 14, 2012

• On May 7, 2012, a judge at the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad acquitted Daqduq on the grounds of lack of evidence and ordered his release. Daqduq’s lawyer, Abdul-Mahdi al-Mitairi, a Sadrist and former Minister of State in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s second government, said that under Iraqi law the verdict would be appealed immediately, with the verdict of the appeal announced in no more than six months. Hezbollah sources in Beirut insisted that Daqduq would not face any further charges.
• US military officials maintained that during his time in US custody, Daqduq had confessed freely to the killing of the five American soldiers without being subject to harsh treatment. However, under the Iraqi judicial system, evidence must be collected by an investigating judge: evidence collected by a foreign military force is inadmissible.
• According to The Cable blog, a memo approved by Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough read: “Daqduq should be held accountable for his crimes. Period. While we strongly oppose his acquittal, protections for the accused are built into all judicial systems, including our own. We transferred Daqduq to Iraqi custody out of respect for, and obligation to, the rule of law in Iraq, and while we disagree with this decision, we respect the independence of the Iraqi judiciary. We will continue to work closely with the Iraqi government to explore all legal options to pursue justice in this case.

Good thing someone chose to respect Iraq's justice system, seeing how much respect they show in return.

 

[Marauder06]

If I were someone important in the intel field, I'd let it "slip out" through back-channel sources (for instance, telling our ISI "allies" about it and asking them to keep it a secret) that the only reason Duqduq got released is because he gave up a bunch of stuff on the Khazali bros. and Iran's involvement with killing Americans in Iraq. Then I'd follow him a bit inside Lebanon and whack 3-4 close associates (to back up the rumor that he's working for us) and then maybe open a couple of Swiss bank accounts in his name, and plant some surreptitious recording devices in his belongings, so the next time he meets with someone important and they check for bugs, he gets rolled up by his own folks. The results of THAT should make for an interesting YouTube video.

 

[SpitfireV]

If I were someone important in the intel field, I'd let it "slip out" through back-channel sources (for instance, telling our ISI "allies" about it and asking them to keep it a secret) that the only reason Duqduq got released is because he gave up a bunch of stuff on the Khazali bros. and Iran's involvement with killing Americans in Iraq. Then I'd follow him a bit inside Lebanon and whack 3-4 close associates (to back up the rumor that he's working for us) and then maybe open a couple of Swiss bank accounts in his name, and plant some surreptitious recording devices in his belongings, so the next time he meets with someone important and they check for bugs, he gets rolled up by his own folks. The results of THAT should make for an interesting YouTube video.

Boner.

 

[Dame]

Boner.

OK, second time tonight you've made me almost spit something at the keyboard. Fucking gold.