Friday, December 03, 2010

Maliki fired capable officers in the name of de-Baathification

'Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fired hundreds of intelligence and security officials to replace them with less capable political loyalists, say U.S. State Department cables from early 2010. A cable sent just days before Iraq's national campaign season began on February 12 predicted "serious harm to the intelligence institutions by drumming out experienced and proficient officers in certain services in the name of de-Ba'athification, regardless if it a cover for political gamesmanship." The Iraqis were fired under the guise of Iraq's "de-Baathification" policy, which forbids anyone associated with Saddam Hussein's Baath party from participating in politics.

The firings, and their successive replacement with inexperienced or Iran-trained loyalists, came as the planned U.S. withdrawal shifted greater responsibility for Iraq's security to the same national institutions Maliki was purging. Though violence in Iraq has greatly improved since the war's worst years, it remains a serious problem, with many residents still fleeing the continued ethnic violence and terrorist attacks.'

6 comments :

Anonymous said...

Should Read: Puppet fires puppets on the orders of America

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing the link - but unfortunately it seems to be not working? Does anybody here at iraqimojo.blogspot.com have a mirror or another source?


Cheers,
Peter

Don Cox said...

In spite of all these firings, the death rate from violence is still creeping down.

Dolly said...

It's not really creeping down, the last quarter is:
September → 128
October → 141
November → 146

But then again, it's not really 'violence' to begin with, it is war.

Don Cox said...

I think you need to average over more than three months to get the trend. Or you could just look at the graphs on Iraq Body Count.

No, it is not a war. It is a low level terror campaign. There are similar or worse campaigns running in many countries.

Hopefully it will soon be defeated so that Iraqis can live their lives in peace.

Iraqi Mojo said...

"Conventional wisdom in the West is increasingly pointing to Iran as the biggest winner not only of the recent election, but post-war Iraq overall. As Ambassador Hill pointed out, Tehran is undoubtedly a major player in Iraqi politics. That being said, they do not give orders and the Iraqis comply. Iran’s main goal is being able to shape events in Iraq to their liking, not having direct control. Increasingly Iran is having problems at doing that as Iraqi nationalism has re-emerged and average citizens are becoming weary of their neighbor interfering in their affairs. That’s something that Ambassador Hill also mentioned in a later cable. The actions of the Iraqi parties point to the limits of Iran’s power. The Shiites did not unite before the vote, and it took them months to agree upon Maliki afterward, and some still refuse to do so. The Iraqi parties were caught up in their own power struggles and rivalries, and that ultimately played a larger role in their decisions than Iranian pressure."