Iraq arrest check point guards in car bomb attack

NY Times:

Iraqi officials said on Thursday they had arrested 61 army and police officers in connection with the bombings in central Baghdad on Sunday that killed 155 people and wounded hundreds more.

The attacks, in which suicide bombers were seen on film passing through numerous security checkpoints before detonating their vehicles in front of three government buildings, spurred angry criticism and accusations of corruption among the officers manning the checkpoints.

Maj. General Qassim Atta, who announced the arrests, did not say whether the officers were accused of complicity in the attacks or negligence in preventing them.

...
Unfortunately for Iraq, either charge seems credible. I am leaning slightly in favor of incompetence. Iraq still has not developed the leadership it needs in the military to command the kind of work needed to defeat the terrorist.

When they were working with competent American officers, they were able to do a better job. Now they are just not gathering the intelligence they need to find and destroy the bomb makers.

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