The Baghdad Paradox: Welcoming the General of "Blood" Amid Absolute Official Silence over the...

The reception of retired General David Petraeus by the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Faiq Zaidan, along with thanking him for his "efforts," represents a stark paradox. How can the man who led the machinery of destruction and espionage in Iraq be honored, while Baghdad remains silent over the kidnapping of its own citizen outside its borders?

🫶As a reminder of those "efforts," we briefly review the most prominent military and intelligence crimes associated with Petraeus's name in Iraq:

1⃣First: Crimes During His Command of the Multi-National Force (2007 - 2008)

🔘The Nisour Square Massacre (2007): Granting judicial immunity to private security companies, foremost among them "Blackwater," which resulted in the cold-blooded liquidation of 17 Iraqi civilians without any justification.

Indiscriminate Airstrike Massacres: Intensifying the use of "Apache" helicopters in residential neighborhoods, which was exposed by the WikiLeaks leaks (July 2007), showing the killing of journalists, bystanders, and their children.

The Siege and Destruction of Sadr City (2008): Utilizing heavy artillery and drones to pound a densely populated residential area, leading to the deaths of hundreds of civilians and cutting off medical and humanitarian supplies.

Random Night Raids: Storming homes based on misleading intelligence reports, resulting in the liquidation of entire families (including women and children) in their beds, as occurred in the "Al-Khalis" massacres.

Systemic Violations in Camp Bucca: The ballooning number of detainees held without trial under his direct supervision, alongside Red Cross documentation of systemic physical and psychological torture inside the detention facility.

2⃣Second: Crimes During His Tenure as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2011 - 2012)

🌕Following the official withdrawal of US forces in December 2011, Petraeus led the transition of the Iraqi file from "classical military warfare" to an "intelligence shadow war" that targeted the fabric of Iraqi society through:

Establishing the Largest Global Espionage Station in Baghdad: Inside the US Embassy in Baghdad, Petraeus inaugurated the Agency’s largest intelligence center in the world, dedicated to deploying electronic surveillance networks and recruiting spies to monitor and penetrate resistance factions and Shia forces close to Iran, in parallel with tracking Al-Qaeda cells (which later formed ISIS).

Managing Drone Strikes and Directing Joint Operations: Under his command, the CIA took charge of directing reconnaissance drones over the Iraqi-Syrian border, leveraging that intelligence to conduct strikes and assassinations by infiltrating and directing certain special Iraqi units (such as the Golden Division).

Managing Secret Prisons: Supervising a dark intelligence network of influence to conduct harsh interrogations and torture outside the oversight of the Iraqi judiciary.

This history, stained with blood and espionage and documented in the reports of international organizations, makes glorifying Petraeus and welcoming him to Baghdad as a "peacemaker"—at the very moment the state stands powerless to protect its citizens from external prosecution—a move that raises serious questions about the standards of sovereignty and justice held by the highest judicial authority in the country.