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Looming U.S.-Iraqi Row over Decision to Release Hizbullah Commander
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Matthew Levitt - Last week, the Iraqi Central Criminal Court rejected Washington's formal request to extradite Hizbullah commander Ali Musa Daqduq to the U.S. to face charges of murder, terrorism, spying, and other offenses filed by a U.S. military commission. The ruling means Baghdad could soon release one of the most senior and dangerous Hizbullah commanders ever apprehended. In the words of one former CIA officer, Daqduq is "the worst of the worst. He has American blood on his hands. If released, he'll go back to shedding more of it." Washington must make clear at the highest levels of the Iraqi government that there will be tangible consequences to summarily freeing an Iranian proxy with American blood on his hands. The writer is director of The Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.