Al Qaida No 2 - Kept On Ice Until Needed

As I suspected, it was all smoke and mirrors to conceal a bigger story:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The U.S. military said today the arrest of al-Qaida in Iraq's second in command took place in June and was the most significant blow to the terror network since the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured on June 19 - not a few days ago as the Iraqi government had initially announced.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, announced al-Saeedi's arrest on Sunday, saying it had occurred a few days earlier. But Caldwell said that it was only the permission to announce the arrest that had been given a few days earlier.

(It is worth noting here that many believe Al-Rubaie, who has survived three different government formats since the occupation, to be one of the premier American puppets in the Iraqi administration.)

The bigger story this news release was meant to conceal, I think, was the failure to hold a ceremony that was supposed to hand over operational command of the Iraqi military to the Iraqi government. The ceremony bogged down over differences, which no-one is talking about much, but which seem to hinge upon matters the Iraqi government deems necessary to show their inpedendence from the US occupation and which the US wants all its own way. In other words, the disagreement hinges on Iraq's sovereignty and whether that is real or simply a convenient fiction. Now an Iraqi spokesman is saying that ceremony will be held tomorrow. We shall see.