December10, 2006: Billions of dollars has been spent on ways to defeat IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, or roadside bombs), and there has been a lot of success in making these weapons less successful. Still, about a third of all casualties, and two-thirds of those killed in combat in Iraq, are the result of IEDs. One reason for the continued use of IEDs is that the teams of people who build, deploy and detonate the IEDs, are getting let out of jail.

On one level, this doesn't make sense, since the police are dominated by Kurds and Shia Arabs, while nearly all the terrorists are Sunni Arabs. And then there are the Shia death squads. How is a captured terrorist going to survive all this? It's all about corruption. Many jailers and judges are willing to take a bribe to let terrorists free. This move, by a Shia Arab judge, would seem insane, until you consider that judges taking bribes is an ancient Iraqi tradition (predating Islam), and by taking the bribe, the judge is less likely to be killed by Sunni Arab terrorists. That's because the terrorists want to keep "friendly" judges on the job.

Another problem is that in places like Western Iraq (Anbar province), everyone, including the police and judges, are Sunni Arabs. The local population is too hostile for Shia or Kurdish cops to survive. As long as the terrorists can convince the authorities that only Americans are being attacked, and a bribe is paid (or some tribal influence applied), you can walk. Terrorists who kill civilians, or Iraqi security personnel, are another matter. These guys have a much more difficult time bribing their way out.

The government also likes to practice another ancient local custom; the mass release of prisoners (to get a quick shot of popular support). Most of the people locked up are considered "innocent" by their extended families, so these mass releases are popular. But a lot of the technical people involved in building and deploying IEDs, get cut loose as well. As a result, American troops have noted an increase in attacks against them after each of these mass releases (there have only been a few).

And then there are the politically connected. Many Shia death squad members have been arrested by U.S. troops. Most of them quickly walk, since these thugs are heroes to some 80 percent of Iraqis (the Kurds and Shia). The death squad goons are also well connected politically, since most operate under the protection of one Shia political party or another.

U.S. troops are particularly vexed with this because, before the Iraqis got back control of their prisons, American interrogators could often get useful information out of captured terrorists. The Iraqis can still do that, if the suspect doesn't bribe his way out of jail, or get released because of influential patrons.

American troops have ROE (Rules of Engagement) which make it difficult to just be a little more deadly when making arrests. A bribe to a judge or prison guard won't help a dead terrorist. However, particularly interesting captives will sometimes be detained by U.S. intelligence personnel for a while, in an attempt to get information. American interrogators still have some tricks they can use to make these guys talk. But eventually, the captives have to go to the Iraqi police. In some cases, U.S. troops can offer to release a prisoner, who (as a notorious Sunni Arab killer) faces certain death at the hands of the police. In exchange for really useful information, of course. This sort of thing is rare, but there are still big fish out there that are worth taking extraordinary measures to bring in.

Corruption in general, has always been a major problem in Iraq. Not even Saddam was able to eliminate it. In fact, Saddam made the corruption another one of the tools he used to control the country. But democracy and corruption do not get on well, and that is being demonstrated in Iraq.