U.S. forces arrest chief Falluja negotiator (Police chief too)

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15651709.htm

FALLUJA, Iraq, Oct 15 (Reuters)- U.S. marines arrested the chief negotiator for Falluja along with the rebel-held city's police chief on Friday, police in Falluja said.

They said Khaled al-Jumaili, police chief Sabar al-Janabi and two other police officers had been detained while they were taking their families out of Falluja to a nearby town for safety.

The arrests came after a night of unusually fierce U.S. air assault on Falluja.

more

[Kagemusha]

1. That... is just... brilliant...

I feel ill.

[Owlet]

2. which is it: arrested or detained?

To me, 'arrest' implies taking a person into custody for some criminal act, while 'detained' is the verb used by the military when they want to hold someone without acknowledging that the detainee has any legal rights. There's been a muddying of these two terms in recent days, and I'm not sure that it's entirely unintentional. I'm also not sure as to just what, if anything, this portends, although I feel a tad uneasy about the whole business.

[GoBlue]

3. Taking hostages now?

Nice.

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. They have been seizing families since the beginning

"Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather the intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are justified, he said, because, "It's an intelligence operation with detainees, and these people have info."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54345-2003Jul27.html

[saigon68]

6. "Col. David Hogg" Throw Back to the SS

The SS and Gestapo used these tactics on varius resistence movements in 1943-1944.

The US military has sunk to that level

[ladybugg33]

4. "Taking their families...?" Now you know how we get so many confessions

that later prove to be false.

[Rose Siding]

7. "Negotiations" should go so much more smoothly now

:eyes:

[daleo]

8. Arresting the negotiators?

This doesn't seem likely to inspire faith in the honesty of negotiations.