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| Iraq-Jordan |
| More on Reversal of De-Baathification Policy |
| 2004-04-23 |
| EFL The top American official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, presented his plan today to allow former Baathists to re-enter the military and the government. The plan, disclosed on Thursday by administration officials here, is a major rollback of a policy aimed at purging the Iraqi government of members of Saddam Hussein’s former governing party. The change represents a sharp split with the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. The Americans are breaking in particular with Ahmad Chalabi, a former exile, who is now the council member in charge of the purges. Mr. Chalabi denounced the move to rehabilitate some Baathists.. "This is like allowing Nazis into the German government immediately after World War II," he told a Reuters correspondent. "This policy will create major problems in the transition to democracy, endanger any government put together by U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and cause it to fall after June 30." Military officers who served in Mr. Hussein’s army and had clean records would be allowed to join the new army, Mr. Bremer said. The softened policy on de-Baathification will allow the quick return to the government payroll of former Baath Party members "who were Baathists in name only," Mr. Senor said. Many Iraqis — teachers, engineers, bureaucrats and others — say they became members only to advance their careers. As part of the policy change, senior army officers, including generals and full colonels, will be allowed to return, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a spokesman for the occupation forces, said. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has recently said that it is appointing several top former officers to lead the new Iraqi Army, a crucial element for any stability. The de-Baathification policy was one of the first sweeping changes — which included the dissolution of the old Iraqi Army — made by L. Paul Bremer III when he took office as the top civilian administrator last May. The policy drew sharp criticism from politicians, military officers and others in Washington and Iraq, who said it shut out the skilled technocrats and intellectuals. The chief White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said on Thursday that the Bush administration was "reviewing how the policies are being implemented and looking at how we can better balance the need for expertise and experience that some Iraqis have with the need for justice." The shift comes as a blow to Mr. Chalabi, who built close ties to the Pentagon during his exile. He heads a Governing Council committee that revises and carries out the policy. In mid-January, he announced new restrictions that barred top-level Baathists from any chance of re-entering the government. Occupation authority officials praised the new change in policy as a step toward "reconciliation." Last month, Mr. Bremer said he had warned Mr. Chalabi that his de-Baathification efforts were going too far. "I’ve told him that they’ve got to stop this overzealous approach if we’re going to allow this to continue," Mr. Bremer said to reporters. Mr. Bremer estimated that of the two million former members of the Baath Party, about 15,000 to 20,000 were affected by his the restrictions he ordered last May. But more were pushed out of their jobs in "spontaneous" purges throughout the provinces, he said. |
| Posted by:sludj |