US revs up reversal of Iraq's Baath purge

[Barrett808]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

BAGHDAD - After the invasion, they were Iraqi pariahs, seen by Americans as remaining too loyal to Saddam Hussein to be trusted.

Members of the ruling Baath party, many of them Sunni Arabs, were purged from the country's ministries and military in an aggressive de-Baathification program initiated by then US administrator Paul Bremer and, later, misconstrued by the new Shiite political elite to serve their ambitions.

But now the Americans are trying to reverse much of the impact of the de-Baathification policies. Analysts and the US itself say that that approach – along with disbanding the former army – polarized Iraqi society and helped fuel the violent Sunni-led insurgency.

Reintegrating many former Baath Party members, as a way to weaken support for the insurgency, has become one of Washington's top priorities and a cornerstone of its new strategy here.

In fact, US zeal for reversing de-Baathification has been so intense that a source close to the process told the Monitor that Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel-Mahdi was summoned to Washington in mid-March to discuss the issue. Upon his return to Baghdad, the source says, he met with former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to draft a bill to reform anti-Baath policies.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070423/wl_csm/odebaath

[Atman]

1. "I WANNA DO-OVER!"

Fucking fools.

.

[arewenotdemo]

2. Is it too late to dig up Saddam?

Fucking war criminals.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. that was fucking stupid

Lets banish the entire professional class from the public and economic life of Iraq! - what could go wrong?

It also banished most of the Iraqi christians too,

[Tempest]

4. There's a big problem now

The insurgency has been fueled by the Baathists and now the Shiites are against Bush's plans to re-introduce them into the government and military.

Anything Khalizad comes up with will be rejected by the Shiite parties.