There is a flurry of reports and speculation running rampant around the web as to what really happened and why it happened in Diyala early Tuesday morning. I'd like to look at the 'news' reports and then tackle some of the Blog speculation that abounds...

First, I'll set the stage, in that clip above, MG Hertling described the launch of Operation Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) and how it was a province-wide operation led by the Iraqis with only minimal US guidance. With the launch of it, numerous Sunnis were targeted as noted here...

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Shiite-led government is cracking down on U.S.-backed Sunni Arab fighters in one of Iraq’s most turbulent regions, arresting some leaders, disarming dozens of men and banning them from manning checkpoints except alongside official security forces.

Now, I'll post a series of articles from Aswat Aliraq in chronological order as the story unfolded...

Diala security official detained – police

DIALA, Aug. 19 (VOI) – An Iraqi police force arrested the official in charge of the Diala provincial council's security committee in central Baaquba on Tuesday, an official police source in the province said.

"The forced raided the Diala provincial council HQ (known as the Blue Dome building) in central Baaquba and arrested Hussein al-Zubeidi," the source, who requested anonymity out of security concerns, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) on Tuesday.
The force was coming from the capital Baghdad in search of Diala officials who are on the wanted list, the source said.
He did not elaborate on the reasons for the measure.

Policemen kill Diala governor's escort, beat deputy

Iraqi policemen killed a bodyguard of Diala Governor Raad Rasheed al-Mulla and beat his deputy during a raid on his office on Tuesday, an official police source in Diala said.

"A police force raided the local administration building in central Baaquba and clashed one of his bodyguards, Abbas al-Makthami, but failed to arrest the governor, who was not available during the raid time," the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
"The force, which came from Baghdad, also beat Deputy Governor Awf Rahoumi for trying to stop the raiding security men," the source added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the same source said that Iraqi policemen arrested the official in charge of the Diala provincial council's security committee in central Baaquba.

4 policemen wounded as Diala university president arrested

DIALA, Aug. 19 (VOI) – Four policemen were wounded in clashes after the detention of the Diala University president on Tuesday, an official police source in the province said.
"Clashes erupted between an interior ministry force coming from Baghdad and local policemen in Diala after the arrest of Diala University President Nizar al-Khazraji in the area of al-Hai al-Sinaie, southwest of Baaquba city," the source, who did not want to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

PM forms ministerial committee to investigate Diala incidents

DIALA, Aug. 19 (VOI) – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday issued an order to form a ministerial committee to investigate the recent incidents in Diala where the governor’s secretary was killed and a number of officials were arrested by Iraqi security forces, the deputy governor said.

“The premier ordered to form a committee under Interior Minister Jawad al-Boulani to investigate the incidents in Diala today, during which the governor’s secretary was killed and a number of officials were arrested by Iraqi forces,” Deputy Governor Awf Rahoumi told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

Diala's deputy governor: "unidentified" forces raided local admin HQ

DIALA, Aug. 20 (VOI) – The deputy governor of Diala on Wednesday said that the forces which raided the headquarters of the local administration last midnight and assaulted local officials were not affiliated with any security ministry.

"Unidentified Iraqi forces that have no ties whatsoever with the ministries of defense and interior raided the building of the local administration; which is the headquarters of the governor, his deputy and assistants, in Baaquba last midnight. The forces physically and verbally assaulted all officials and security guards in the building and killed Abbas al-Tamimi, the secretary of Diala's governor, Raad Rasheed al-Mulla Jawad, without valid reasons," Awf Rahoumi said in statements to Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

Parliamentary committee calls to dissolve counter-terrorism unit

BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (VOI) - The deputy president of the Parliament's Security and Defense Committee on Wednesday demanded to dissolve the counter-terrorism unit and its special forces, describing the arrest of officials in Diala as a brutal act.

"As a deputy president of the Security and Defense Committee, I call to dissolve the special forces in the counter-terrorism unit and to integrate them into the defense and the interior ministries, in addition to calling to hold these forces accountable for their violations in the province."
Iraqi security forces, from Baghdad, waged a crackdown operation yesterday in separate areas of Diala, where they arrested President Nizar al-Khazraji and the official of the security committee Hussin al-Zubaidi.
He voices hope that the investigation committee formed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is “fair.”
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday issued an order to form a ministerial committee to investigate the recent incidents in Diala where the governor’s secretary was killed and a number of officials were arrested by Iraqi security forces, the deputy governor said.

Did you notice that the first reports claimed it was Police forces from Baghdad then went downhill from there? Interesting...

Here's the LA Times...

Predawn raids by elite Iraqi forces Tuesday resulted in the fatal shooting of a government employee and the arrest of two prominent Sunni Arab Muslims, witnesses and officials said.

The troops were with the central government's counter-terrorism units, said Gov. Raad Tamimi of Diyala province, where the raid took place. The forces stormed the governorate building in the city of Baqubah and arrested Sunni provincial council member Hussein Zubaidi, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Another raid led to the arrest of a prominent Sunni university dean.

Questions swirled around who deployed the troops. The special forces unit, referred to by detractors as the dirty squad, reports to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's counter-terrorism office. Spokesmen for Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, and the Defense Ministry said the prime minister had not ordered the raids.

"These special forces work with the Americans. They are not associated with the Ministry of Defense," ministry spokesman Mohammed Askari said. "They have goals, and they didn't inform anyone else."

The unit, long considered Iraq's most effective, generally operates with U.S. military advisors and has been sent on missions targeting the insurgent group Al Qaeda in Iraq as well as the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia.

The U.S. military denied involvement in the operation.

What fascinates me is that everybody is pointing fingers at everybody else... Maliki seems to deny it by ordering an investigation, the Interior Ministry denies it, the Iraqi Army is denying it, along with MNF-I... WTF?

McClatchy reports...

A spokesman for the Iraqi Diyala Operations Center told McClatchy the raiding party was a "special unit" of the Iraqi Army, which works closely with U.S. forces. Diyala governor Raad Rashid told McClatchy the troops wore U.S. fatigues and carried U.S.-issued equipment.

"They were wearing khaki. Their weapons were American. The Humvees they used looked American," said a surviving secretary, Abbas Adnan, who was in the government compound when it was raided. "They didn't have any ranks on their shoulders. They didn't talk."

An officer in the Iraqi Diyala Operations Room said the unit "that came to conduct the operation had air cover. This air cover was American helicopters. They shot at the police in protection of their unit." The officer asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

American officials disputed this account. Maj. John Hall and Navy Lt. Patrick Evans, both U.S. military spokesmen, issued identical statements saying the operation was conducted "without the knowledge or assistance of coalition forces."

Now lets take a look at some of the speculation from the Blogs...

Reidar Vissar provides some excellent insights...

Recent events in Diyala provide yet another indication that all is not well inside Iraq’s ruling establishment, especially with regard to its dominant component of Shiite Islamists. Presumably with the support of premier Nuri al-Maliki, Iraqi government forces yesterday raided the premises of Diyala governor Raad Rashid al-Mulla Jawad (linked to ISCI in many reports).[...]

On the surface, Diyala seems like a manifest example of the alliance between Kurds and ISCI that forms the increasingly feeble parliamentary backbone of Nuri al-Maliki’s government: these two forces dominate the local assembly and key positions in the local administration. However, these fiefs now appear to be coming under attack from forces loyal to Maliki himself.[...]

Earlier, in February, Daawa along with Fadila had sidelined the provincial security council where ISCI was strong, prompting protests from ISCI about the police forces “becoming politicised”. And all too often it is forgotten that the top Basra security officials that came under attack by ISCI and the Sayyid al-Shuhada movement shortly before the military operation in Basra in March were in fact Maliki appointees. In light of examples like these, it is extremely difficult to maintain the common notion that ISCI has perfect control of the Iraqi security forces in most part of the country, although in the case of Diyala it remains unclear whether this is the result of an internal split inside ISCI (national versus local leaderships) or tensions between ISCI and Daawa.

Something is not right... Abu Muqawama thinks...

Both the crackdown on the Awakenings and Diyala and the arrest of Hussein Zubaydi are, at least in part, the culmination of a conflict between the Diyala police and the Awakenings in Diyala that has been building over the course of the last year. In late 2007/early 2008, ISCI-affiliated Diyala police chief Ghanem al-Qurayshi fired up to 4,000 police officers in Diyala who had ties to the Awakenings (and who complained of torture while under custody) and replaced them with ISCI loyalists. In response, the Awakenings threatened to turn back to AQI and reportedly began assassinating police officers. All this resulted in public demonstrations and clashes in February 2008. This entire episode was well documented in the media.[...] Qurayshi’s main rival in Diyala is Hussein al-Zubaydi, the head of the security committee on the DPC, and member of the IIP, and the target of the recent raid. Earlier this year, Zubaydi accused Qurayshi of trying to assassinate him. As the Awakenings in Diyala have faced intense persecution from Qurayshi and the police, they have turned to Zubaydi for support.[...] If Qurayshi is so tightly connected to ISCI, why did the ISCI/Da’wa-dominated DPC and Tamimi vote to fire him and, indeed, never vote to confirm him in the first place? I don’t know. My best guess is that all politics is indeed local and that the standard political categories don’t apply here.[...] Maybe ISCI-affiliated provincial council members don’t take marching orders from Hakim, which would further explain the need for ISCI/Da’wa at the national level to keep Qurayshi in Diyala to keep an eye on things and fight the Awakenings. I’ve certainly met a couple of nahiya- and qada-level politicians that had sort of “chosen” ISCI as a horse to ride, but, for them, this affiliation did not translate into a strong institutional connection with the party.

Now, I would like to posit another angle too, if you remember the President of Diyala University was raided too by the same forces in another op, as Roads to Iraq reported a few days ago, Maliki had set up his own special militia headed by the rabid Minister of Education that gunned down the students as I pointed out in this post. It could be Maliki/Minister al-Khuza'i's personal operation... What baffles me is why did they have US air support without the local Ops Center knowledge...?

Well, you be the judge... WTF happened?