Typically when I run across headlines with the words; the 'US' and 'Iranian backed agents' linked together I'll write it off as more propaganda designed to put pressure on Iran by MNF-I. However, this Gulfnews article provided some interesting revelations...

To wit:

US Security forces in Iraq have hundreds of names of people accused of links with special groups supported by Iran, including well-known politicians, sources in Iraq's interior ministry told Gulf News.

Last week's arrest of Ali Faisal Al Lami, a top Shiite Iraqi official who allegedly has ties with Iranian-backed militias is proof of the existence of such a list, the same sources explained. Al Lami is accused by the US of being behind a bomb attack that left four Americans and six Iraqis dead last June.

Asked about Al Lami's detention, the US authorities said that there were hundreds of wanted people, accused of cooperating with the Iranian Al Quds army, transferring funds to the special Shiite groups that were fighting US forces in Iraq.

Al Lami has long standing ties with Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraq National Congress, you remember them, the ones that we funded and relied upon for all that misguided intel... Anyways, Chalabi did protest the arrest...

Chalabi condemned the arrest Thursday night. "This incident shows the need for an end to the random arrest of Iraqis by the American forces, which are against the human rights outlined in the constitution. It proves for a fact that each Iraqi might be arrested or put in prison without knowing the reasons," he said in a news release. He couldn't be reached for further comment.

Suck it up, Ahmed! Now, getting back to the original article, this interesting factoid emerged...

"The Americans informed the Iraqi government that this list will remain within the responsibility of the US security apparatus even after the US-Iraqi treaty is signed" added the source in the ministry...

..."These forces are special armed brigades that attack US forces in Iraq. The Iraqi government does not have any evidence that Iran supports these groups, but the Iraqi government has outlawed these groups, and they will be punished" said Hassan Sari, Iraqi Minister of State, told Gulf News.

Hashem Hassan, an Iraqi political analyst told Gulf News that there were several Shiite "wanted" lists, and he was certain that the US was able to get substantial information about these groups, when the Iraqi government recently carried out operations in Basra, Baghdad and Mosul.

What I find so interesting is that the US will retain the list, and, apparently act on it either alone or in conjunction with the Interior Ministry... I think we've seen it happen in Diala recently, too! Something I'd covered in this previous post...

Here's some key snippets...

..."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,"

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."

...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."

Now, what I'm perplexed about is how much Maliki is aware of, or, participatory in the arrests...

As Roads to Iraq points out: "Head of Badr Organization took the role of Army Chief of Staff in Diyala." Iran is mainly allied with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and his Badr corps paramilitary, which has become the backbone of al-Maliki's security forces, so is there a schism developing between Dawa and ISCI, or not?

Then you have Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari rolling out the red carpet again to Iran's Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs to discuss bilateral cooperation...

Will the US target Zebari, or Badr members like they should've early on if they were so concerned about Iranian participation...

Who's running the show these days? Or is there too many chefs in the kitchen...? I tend to favor the latter...

What a clusterfuck...!