The Trial of Saddam Hussein and The Fallout of The War

The Trial of Saddam Hussein

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The fallout in the Middle East from the regime change in Iraq

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

De Baathification Cancelled

Several years too late, the powers that be in Iraq have finally woken up to the fact that one of the worst mistakes post "regime change" was the "De Baathification" of the country.

Iraq's top political leaders have announced an agreement to release thousands of prisoners, being held without charge (wasn't the invasion meant to do away with such practices?), and to reform a law that has kept thousands of members of Saddam Hussein's political party out of government jobs.

"De-Baathification" was one of the worst thought through (if "thought" was ever applied in this case) "initiatives" that the US imposed upon Iraq post invasion. It resulted in the total meltdown of the political, military, police and civil service infrastructure. The reason being that the Baathists, like it or not, were the ones who held the key positions and knew how to run the country.

It is unlikely that this last minute gesture will be enough to secure the political stability/future of Iraq. Last week a US national intelligence report predicted that "the Iraqi Government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months"; in other words it will collapse.

What will Shrub do then?

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