You Have the Right to, No, Scratch That

     Have charges been filed?  Has counsel be obtained? Has anyone told anyone anything about this?

     For the third straight day, the US media remains mum on the early morning shoot out and arrest of the #2 man in the Iraqi Parliament.  Although covered a bit in the foreign, mostly South Asian, press, and receiving one mention buried in an article in the Seattle Times, this story from Pakistan's Daily Times has the following update:

Iraq’s provisional parliament urged US-led forces to free national assembly deputy head Naseer Ayef on Wednesday, a day after he was detained in a dawn raid on his house. “We call for his release and for the matter to be referred to the National Assembly which will investigate and take a legal position,” it said in a statement. "His continuing detention is considered a negative action that goes against legal principles since it has a negative effect on the activities of the assembly." US officials would not comment on the arrest.

     Here I was acting all ignorant, thinking that the main power Iraq's parliament didn't have was to refuse corrupt contracts to US corporations, or to nationalize their oil fields.  How naive!

     As an aside, perhaps they should take a cue from the Republicans in the US House of Representatives.  In that august, cough, body, the ethics panel has passed a rule that allows people in leadership positions to keep serving after indictment in a felony that might get a two year prison term, and they passed this for the sole reason of covering for the mindless mendicant, Tom DeLay.  After all, Nasir|Naseer|Nasser Ayef has the same exact job as DeLay...