Arab Monitor calls the brief detainment by US forces of a son of Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim "a message to SCIRI," the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Washington has got to be uneasy that its allies in Iraq are the faction traditionallly backed by Iran. Maybe this was an intentional ritual humiliation to show who's really boss. Feb. 23:

The US denies it, of course, but the evidence seems pretty convincing. From AP, Feb. 23:

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops battled insurgents in fierce fighting that killed at least 12 people in the volatile Sunni city of Ramadi, the military said yesterday. Iraqi authorities said the dead included women and children.

Shades of Bosnia. From the UK-based Middle East Online, Feb. 23:

Allegations of sexual abuse of Sunni women by Shiite forces stirred sectarian tensions in Iraq on Friday, while a US soldier was jailed for 100 years for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

Around 25,000 rallied in the Afghan capital Kabul Feb. 22, calling for a war crimes amnesty for former Mujahedeen commanders to be made law. The protesters, who gathered in a stadium, included ex-Mujahedeen and several top government officials. "Whoever is against mujahedeen is against Islam and they are the enemies of this country," former fighter Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, who is now an influential lawmaker, told the crowd. Supporters later marched through the streets of the city, shouting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to America!" (BBC, Feb. 23) Later that day, the upper house of Afghanistan's parliament, the Meshrano Jirga, approved the amnesty bill. The vote came three weeks after the 249-seat lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, approved it. The bill now goes to President Hamid Karzai for his signature. (IRIN, Feb. 22)

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Afghanistan's rebel Hizb-i-Islami rebel movement, has released a video denouncing the US as "the mother of problems" and pledging that US and NATO forces will be driven from the country, likely this year. "As long as America remains in Afghanistan and in the region, war and problems will continue," he says in the video. "I can say with full assurance and confidence that America does not have the ability to stay for a long period in Afghanistan... My analysis is that America [will] pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan simultaneously and the withdrawal perhaps will happen this year." (AlJazeera, Feb. 22)

The Taliban is prepared for an ambitious spring offensive, the military leader of the Islamist milita boasted in a new interview with AlJazeera TV. "The attack is imminent," said Mullah Dadullah. "The number of Taliban mujahedin who are ready to launch the spring battle has reached 6,000." He added that the Taliban have prepared tunnels where their fighters are hiding as they wait for the opening of the offensive. He also said the Taliban force wold grow as NATO sends more troops to Afghanistan, predicting it will reach 10,000 fighters. "The more the number of Jewish and Christian soldiers who fight us increases, the more the Afghan people will be encouraged to join us." (DPA, Feb. 22 via Qatar's Gulf Times, Feb. 23)

Just as Britain has announced a draw-down of 1,600 troops in Iraq, comes the news it will be sending some 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Of the 35,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, some 5,600 are British, mainly deployed in Helmand. (The Independent, Feb. 23) Australia has also announced it will send more crack SAS troops to Afghanistan. There are currently 550 Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly in Oruzgan. (The West, Australia, Feb. 23) NATO took command of US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan in October. (ISAF homepage) US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley after a Feb. 22 meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called upon other alliance members to shoulder more of the burden in Afghanistan. (OnlineNews, Pakistan, Feb. 22)

A resolution from a Dec. 25 conference in Chicago, "Sunni Shia Dialogue to Save Lives," online at The American Muslim:

Resolution: Shia-Suni Dialogue to Save Lives
To be signed by immams, khateebs, masjids, Muslim organizations and opinion leaders

Whereas, the Quran mandates Muslim unity in the verse: “And hold fast, all together, by the Rope of God, and be not divided among yourselves; And remember with gratitude God’s favor on you when you were enemies, and He united your hearts so by His favor you became brothers; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, then He saved you from it; thus does God make clear to you His signs that you may follow the right way.” (Quran 3:103)