Reports noted that thousands of Iraqis being held without charge by the US on suspicion of links to insurgents or militants were being freed because there was insufficient evidence against them. The news of their release came even as the US prepared to turn over its detention system to the fledgling Iraqi government by early 2010. In the six years since the war began, the military detained some 100,000 suspects. About 13,300 Iraqis remained in US custody1.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki noted that reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at then US president George Bush, was lucky to get away with a three year jail sentence. al-Maliki stated that a longer jail sentence or even execution could ideally have been his punishment2.

• 1. “Thousands of Iraqis held by US to go free,” Khaleej Times, March 20, 2009, at http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2...
• 2. “Iraq's premier says shoe thrower got off lightly,” Khaleej Times, March 21, 2009, at http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/internationa...