UK soldiers free detained comrades from Iraqi jail News
UK soldiers free detained comrades from Iraqi jail

[JURIST] British forces freed two British soldiers from an Iraqi jail Monday, though British and Iraqi officials are offering different accounts of what happened. The two freed British soldiers, thought to be undercover commandos, were arrested by the Iraqis earlier Monday [BBC report] for shooting two Iraqi policeman, one of whom died. Mohammed al-Walli, governor of Basra, said the men were removed through a barbaric raid on the jail that caused its destruction, and called Britain's actions irresponsible as they allowed 150 other Iraqi prisoners to flee. The UK Ministry of Defense [official website] has said the two men were released after negotiations between the UK and Iraq, and a British military official said the men were rescued because they ended up being held by Shia militia [MoD press release]. The arrests have sparked new debate over just how much sovereignty Iraq was granted after the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority [official website] handed over power to Iraq's interim government in 2004. Brigadier John Lorimer said that Iraqi law [CPA order 17, PDF] required that Iraq immediately hand over the detained soldiers to the Multinational Force [official website]. AP has more. BBC News provides additional coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

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