Silence speaks volumes and Khalid is detained

Today, the British people observed a couple of minutes of silence in memory of the victims of last weeks' terrorist bombings. I am very impressed that the whole country took part in this display of solidarity in the face of fear and violence. It shows amazing strength. In the Quaker faith, the silence of the meeting is where we connect with the voice and messages of God. May they find comfort in their faith. Their silence spoke volumes about faith and goodness.

And today, I got the awful news that Khalid Jarrar has gone missing. His brother reports that he was detained by the Mukhabarat, a secret service agency run in Iraq by the CIA. Per Raed Jarrar, this was the best outcome they could have hoped for: other alternatives were much more gruesome. I cannot imagine what they detained Khalid for, but Raed says it has to do with his writings or his blog. I met up with Khalid's mother last month in Washington, DC. Her blog is called "A Family in Baghdad". Most of the family is now in Amman, since Baghdad is so dangerous. Khalid went back to Baghdad because the family home was broken into - and his hard drive on his computer stolen. It looks like the Mukhabarat took it.

I have not heard much on the Mukhabarat, but I found this article today:

Amidst Doubts, CIA Hangs on to Control of Iraqi Intelligence Service By Hannah Allam and Warren P. Strobel Knight Ridder May 8, 2005 The CIA has so far refused to hand over control of Iraq's intelligence service to the newly elected Iraqi government in a turf war that exposes serious doubts the Bush administration has over the ability of Iraqi leaders to fight the insurgency and worries about the new government's close ties to Iran. The director of Iraq's secret police, a general who took part in a failed coup attempt against Saddam Hussein, was handpicked and funded by the U.S. government, and he still reports directly to the CIA, Iraqi politicians and intelligence officials in Baghdad said last week. Immediately after the elections in January, several Iraqi officials said, U.S. forces stashed the sensitive national intelligence archives of the past year inside American headquarters in Baghdad in order to keep them off-limits to the new government.

The full article is here was on the Iraq Coalition Casualties page.
I am hopeful that this will turn out okay, but I cannot imagine what the CIA is doing with Khalid or his computer or his blog. I sure hope they are reading my blog... and all my emails. Maybe they will learn something.