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Keeping all Baath Party members out of the new government was a mistake! All Baath Party members were barred from government jobs after Saddam was topped for the simple reason that the vast majority of the Iraqi people hated the Baath Party. The Baath Party, like the Communist and Nazi party earlier in the century, was a political movement that controlled the nation by demanding that all key positions (management, government, academic, judicial) be held by members of the party. You had to prove to local party members that you would be a loyal Baathist before you were admitted to the party. After that, you could pursue your career. But the party had the right to call on you to do whatever the party needed done. That could include being an informer, or murder of “an enemy of the party.” Many people who joined the Baath Party just for career reasons, later fled the country when the party asked them to do something vile (from being an informer to participating in some bit of terrorism to control the population.) But most stayed, cultivated their career and just hoped the party never called on them to be a bastard. When the Baath party was thrown out, Iraqis knew which Baathists were bastards and which were just opportunists. The former were often war criminals, but the latter were also hated for their opportunism and lack of scruples. Many Iraqis refused to join the Baath party, and accepted career damage in doing so. As a result, all Baath Party members were seen as tainted. Unfortunately, many of them are skilled administrators and professionals. From the beginning, some key professionals were allowed back on the job even though they had been in the Baath Party. This was always done at some cost, for there were always other Iraqis who were quite bitter about any Baath Party member being back in a position of authority. This situation will continue for a generation.
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Iraq Baathists to get jobs back
The US administrator in Iraq says many former public sector workers who lost their jobs after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime are to be reinstated.
Paul Bremer said members of the former ruling Baath party who had a clean record could return to their old jobs in the military or education.
Correspondents say the move, which was announced in a televised speech, represents a major shift in US policy.
But it has been criticised by some members of the Iraqi Governing Council.
"This is like allowing Nazis into the German government immediately after World War Two," said Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.
Adnan al-Assadi, of the Dawa party, said: "It will help security deteriorate further, disappoint the Iraqis who have trusted the coalition to manage the political process and lead to civil war."
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