Mistaken Identity

LA Times:

Mohsen Abdel Hamid, head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, was detained when U.S. troops raided his home shortly before dawn. He was released after Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, criticized the action. Hamid has been a voice of reconciliation, urging Sunnis to work with the Shiite-dominated government and condemning a surge in sectarian killings. A statement released by U.S.-led forces said the raid, which left Hamid's house with battered doors and smashed windows, was a case of mistaken identity. 'Mr. Hamid is being returned to his home,' the statement said. 'Coalition forces regret any inconvenience and acknowledge Mr. Hamid's cooperation in resolving this matter.' Speaking on Iraqi television, Jafari called Hamid a well-respected politician and noted that the detained leader had once served as president of the former Iraqi Governing Council. The Iraqi government worried that the embarrassing incident would deepen Sunni suspicions about the new government and its American backers. 'I will demand a clear accounting….' said Jafari, a Shiite Muslim whose administration has been negotiating with Sunni leaders to avert further sectarian violence. 'No civilian should be arrested without just cause.'

This sort of mistake, while probably inevitable, is very regretable. The best solution of course, is to get the Iraqi forces up to speed so that they can take over this sort of raid themselves, leaving U.S. forces for more conventional combat missions, until they can be replaced in that role as well. This will take time though, and it appears, that while a major mistake was made, our forces have handled it well and issued a quick and sincere apology. Doubtless though that will not heal all the damage from this incident. While we will probably not know exactly how this happened (for a variety of reasons the investigation will probably be classified) I suspect that we were the victims of an intelligence operation specifically designed to get us to make this mistake.