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Us bans baath party { May 17 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1366-2003May16.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1366-2003May16.html
U.S. Bans More Iraqis From Jobs
Move Called Necessary To Purge Party Members
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 17, 2003; Page A01
BAGHDAD, May 16 -- U.S. occupation authorities today banned 15,000 to 30,000 ranking members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from holding government jobs, ruling that full party members who served as top managers in the country's ministries, hospitals and universities must be dismissed.
The purge reversed a previous U.S. policy that excluded only the disbanded party's most senior members and those closest to Hussein. U.S. officials said the shift was accelerated by the newly installed civilian reconstruction chief, L. Paul Bremer III, to demonstrate that a U.S. occupation struggling to deliver order and material improvements to Iraqis will not tolerate Baathist resistance and is serious about remaking the country.
It is inevitable that some troublesome Baathists will slip through the cracks while others with more modest party roles will be mistakenly fired, officials acknowledged. They added that the policy also will lead to the rejection of some talented technocrats and the ouster of some Baathists already recruited for leadership positions.
"We recognize this is not going to be a very tidy process," said the senior U.S. official who announced the policy. "De-Baathification will necessarily entail some inefficiency in the running of government. That's a price we are willing to pay to be sure that we extirpate Baathism from Iraq's society."
The written policy, delivered over Bremer's signature, was announced on the day he met for the first time with Iraqi political leaders to discuss creation of an interim authority that is to gradually take power from U.S. occupation forces. Bremer and more than two dozen Iraqis from seven organizations emerged from a two-hour meeting in Hussein's 258-room Republican Palace to say only that they plan to talk again in about two weeks.
That signaled a slippage from the previous timetable for choosing a temporary Iraqi authority by the end of May, a sensitive issue for Iraqis eager to start taking charge of their own affairs.
Disagreements continue over how the authority should be chosen and what its mandate and responsibilities should be, according to Iraqis and Americans. People on both sides say the Americans have made it clear that the Iraqi body will not be considered a government, nor will it run Iraq anytime soon.
"Nobody is thrilled with this," said an Iraqi who attended tonight's meeting, referring to political groups that rarely agree quickly on anything.
The Americans and their British partners say the divided and untested Iraqi parties are unprepared to take charge of reviving the economy and rebuilding the government. A British diplomat, given a chance to say the composition and structure of the interim authority would be left to the Iraqis, ducked the question twice. A U.S. official said officials continue to mull what sort of interim body would work and how to use their influence to produce the desired result.
The anti-Baath policy, Bremer wrote, is designed to ensure that Iraq's future government is "not threatened by Baathist elements returning to power and that those in positions of authority in the future are acceptable to the people of Iraq."
The turnaround followed demands for tough sanctions by many Iraqis persecuted by the previous government. Baath opponents, including numerous Shiite Muslims excluded from power by the Sunni-dominated political party, contend that the continued presence of Baathists would perpetuate corruption and undermine the legitimacy of a future government. Protest marches and verbal challenges have greeted the appointment by U.S. and British authorities of party members closely identified with Iraq's past sins.
At first, the Bush administration said that only very senior Baath members -- such as those implicated in human rights abuses or tied closely to Hussein and his inner circle -- would be automatically disqualified. Leaders of the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance said repeatedly that the party counted among its members capable managers and technocrats whose skills would be needed in the rebuilding process.
But complaints and insecurity among Iraqis raised doubts about U.S. intentions. The appointment of Baathists to high-profile transition jobs raised questions about how serious the Bush administration was about transforming the country.
The senior U.S. official, who asked not to be further identified, said the new policy would have a "substantive and symbolic purpose." Not only would it rid Iraq of a pernicious influence and prevent Baathists from returning to power, but the order would "show Baathists who are still around that we mean business and to show the Iraqi people that we mean business.
"There is evidence that some Baathists are trying to reorganize themselves and reconstitute," he continued. "It certainly lies behind some of the -- not all -- law and order problems that we've seen in Baghdad and in other cities in the last two weeks. That is obviously causing concern."
The top four ranks of Baath Party members will be removed from their jobs and banned from public sector employment. Those suspected of criminal conduct will be investigated. If they are considered a threat to security or if there is concern they might flee the country, they will be detained or placed under house arrest, Bremer's policy stated.
U.S. officials say they believe 15,000 to 30,000 Iraqis fall into those ranks among an estimated 1.5 million party members nationwide. A somewhat overlapping group of about 2,000 senior managers throughout national ministries, state-run companies and related institutions such as hospitals and universities will be removed if they are found to be full members of the party.
The vetting process -- which Americans intend to control, rather than turn over to Iraqis as previously announced -- will be difficult in a country that lacks a central authority, reliable records or independent institutions that monitored party membership, officials acknowledged. U.S. authorities expect to question individuals about any Baath past, check with co-workers and possibly Iraqi political parties, and consult whatever government records or public records can be found.
All Iraqis who work for the government will be required to sign "some form of denunciation or renunciation" of the party, the senior official said.
When Stephen Browning, the U.S. manager overseeing the Iraqi Health Ministry, required such signatures last week, more than 50 aspiring administrators signed, but they later questioned the fairness of the requirement.
Several said they were incredulous that the U.S. government, which has pledged to bring democracy to Iraq, has banned a political party -- even the Baath Party, with its record of abuses. Others said they were amused, with one woman calling it "hilarious" that Iraqis who had to pledge fealty to the party to get jobs in Hussein's Iraq will have to renounce the party to get jobs now.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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