Did the United States just abandon an abducted soldier by removing road blocks around Sadr city at the command of Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki? That’s what Andrew Sullivan and Josh Marshall have been asking.
Today’sWashington Post has details:
The move lifted a near siege that had stood at least since last Wednesday. U.S. military police imposed the blockade after the kidnapping of an American soldier of Iraqi descent. The soldier’s Iraqi in-laws said they believed he had been abducted by the Mahdi Army as he visited his wife at her home in the Karrada area of Baghdad, where U.S. military checkpoints were also removed as a result of Maliki’s action.[…]
U.S. soldiers in Humvees had used concertina wire and sandbags to close off all bridges and other routes into Sadr City, home to 2.5 million Shiites, from the rest of Baghdad. The U.S. troops, backed by Iraqi soldiers, admitted vehicles only one at a time after searches. The blockade caused hours-long backups, and Sadr City’s largely working-class residents complained that the cost of food and fuel was soaring. […]
(U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan)Withington said the lifting of the blockade “does not stop our search for the soldier. We’re dead serious about getting him back, and that won’t stop because of these checkpoints.” He said at least seven U.S. troops had been injured in the search for the missing American.
Is it really as simple that political pressure from Shiite militias caused the order, or might this be part of some back room deal to release the soldier where the ransom paid is the political humiliation of the U.S.?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Update: The Army has identified the kidnapped soldier as 41-year-old reservist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie. Three carloads of armed men kidnapped him while he was visiting his wife and her family on October 23. (Washington Post)
– Ryan Singel
Big Ups: JZ, Photo: patteia
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, we left a soldier behind officially. Unofficially, I am pretty sure we still have searches still going on.
here is a list of those who care:
1…the grunts on the ground in harms way.
2….their comrades in arms, wherever they are
3….their families, friends and loved ones
4…the politicians who are living off of them.
5….the media who live off of all the above.
its a damn small list.
pity.
I would guess Jack to be right on the continued searches and raids.
It looks like Maliki is yanking our short hairs. Can’t blame the guy he has to be looking at the possible futures and how can you ask him to throw Sadr(Iranian proxy & supported) under the bus for a US ally that everyday thanks to our “american dessenters” back here looks more and more like it is going to tuck tail and bail anyday now at the latest by years end.
Somebody should go ask our previous allies like the S. Vietamnese who supported thier ally US till the end how that turned out. Hell how about asking the Iraqi Shia/Kurds ala 91′ how that turned out when the US got weak kneed after getting things going.
One day we will learn in the US once you engage the debate is over after that moment it is WIN or LOSE. If we lose today our children will pay a hundred fold. They will not forgive US nor should they.
um…i believe it was an Iraqi translator who was working for U.S. troops that was kidnapped and is still missing…NOT a U.S. soldier. Evidently the translator was visiting family in Baghdad(?) when he was kidnapped by masked gunmen.
RE: “um…i believe it was an Iraqi translator who was working for U.S. troops that was kidnapped”
No, it was a US Soldier of Iraqi descent.
the street politics that are going on right now in baghdad are ridiculously complex. it’s a lose/lose/lose situation, but backing off is likely to end up with the lowest body count and the best chance of a live soldier.
the thing with al-maliki is he actually has to run the place when american forces pull out, unless y’all are planning to stay there for another fifty years. if he shows some backbone and makes it look like he’s not a complete puppet, he has at least some chance of living to see 2009.
It was NOT a soldier despite what media are reporting. Soldiers are not allowed to walk around Baghdad by themselves. It was a contracted translator in US Army uniform, an American of Iraqi descent.
…And besides, at some point, for the sake of keeping Iraq together, it’s going to be necessary, like it or not, to permit the Iraqis to set up an amnesty for those who have attacked Coalition Forces, at which point this fuss over a contractor will seem like a small deal. We need to remember that the mission always comes first.
What I don’t understand about this story is how a US soldier was allowed to repeatedly go off-base when not on duty. It’s not like there are numerous US troops who change into civvies and head downtown for kebabs on a regular basis – it’s too damned dangerous and a serious violation of basic security protocols.
The stories I’ve read suggest that this guy was based in the Green Zone, which means that he would have had to pass numerous security checkpoints on the way out and on the way back in. Given that he’s an Iraqi, he would have attracted a fairly high degree of scrutiny; I find it hard to believe that his irregular movements would not have been noticed, noted and reported. What ID was he using to go in and out? Or did he dig a secret tunnel?
What evidence is there that he was picked up by a Shia militia? If he was kidnapped in Karrada, visiting a Sunni family, then there’s just as much chance that he was taken by a Sunni group.
I’ve no particular opinion on whether he was a soldier, a contractor or a spook – but if I had to guess, this guy was a spook.
The Pentagon announced the name and position of the missing soldier:
“(November 2, 2006)
Give the missing man a break! When I was in Vietnam, soldiers were so often off the base camps, it was not an issue, unless the chain of command was looking for one. He took his chances – and lost. Too many people think that we have to wipe their fannies for them. All of the responsibility is on him, not the chain of command.