FOXNews.com - Top Stories - U.S. Eases Ban on Ex-Saddam Party Members BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. administrators are easing the purge of members of Saddam Hussein's (search) disbanded party, allowing thousands of former Baathist army officers and teachers back in their jobs, officials said Friday.
Some Iraqi leaders welcomed the change, saying the policy of strict de-Baathification was a mistake from the start that fueled the anti-U.S. insurgency. The move, however, is likely to face opposition, especially among Kurds (search) and Shiites (search) who were brutally suppressed by Saddam's Baath Party and welcomed the purge.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, is expected to announce the new policy in a national address Friday night on al-Iraqiya, a U.S.-funded television station.
The U.S. decision to disband the military and the Baath after Saddam's fall was at first popular. But it led to widespread unemployment, especially among the Sunni minority that formed the core of Saddam's regime, some of whom joined the ranks of the anti-U.S. insurgency, Iraqis and U.S. commanders say.
Some Iraqi leaders welcomed the change, saying the policy of strict de-Baathification was a mistake from the start that fueled the anti-U.S. insurgency. The move, however, is likely to face opposition, especially among Kurds (search) and Shiites (search) who were brutally suppressed by Saddam's Baath Party and welcomed the purge.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, is expected to announce the new policy in a national address Friday night on al-Iraqiya, a U.S.-funded television station.
The U.S. decision to disband the military and the Baath after Saddam's fall was at first popular. But it led to widespread unemployment, especially among the Sunni minority that formed the core of Saddam's regime, some of whom joined the ranks of the anti-U.S. insurgency, Iraqis and U.S. commanders say.
Comments