Monday, November 24, 2003
What Are These Guys Thinking About? Part Forever
Bremer's firing teachers now. Twenty-eight thousand of them. For having been Baathists.
This, courtesy of the great Oliver Willis. Here's the original UPI story . And who might be behind this move? By implication, Chalabi, who, as the man who would follow Saddam, was certified this weekend by Sally Quinn, as not merely an acceptable dinnerparty guest, but as a highly desirable one.
So, 28,000 members of 28,000 Iraqi families will no longer be employed in a country where the unemployment rate is hovering between 70 and 60 %. Iraqis have large, extended families, that are closer and see each other more often than many of our nuclear families. So multiply that 28,000 X oh, let's say on average 6 1/2 other Iraqis.
Brilliant.
Isn't this the same mistake they made with the Iraqi army? And again, with Iraqi civilians who'd been running important slices of what kept civil society going in Iraq before we invaded? What, is this administration preternaturally unable to learn from their own mistakes? Of course, in order to learn from one, you have to be able to admit you made one.
And in January, Iraqis can look forward to the UN Food program being discontinued. Or have they come to their senses on this one? If so, I haven't heard about it.
You know, I'm starting to get really, really, angry.
Try and imagine if you were an Iraqi, trying to hold together a life for you and your family?
This, courtesy of the great Oliver Willis. Here's the original UPI story . And who might be behind this move? By implication, Chalabi, who, as the man who would follow Saddam, was certified this weekend by Sally Quinn, as not merely an acceptable dinnerparty guest, but as a highly desirable one.
A Central Command spokesman, speaking to UPI from Baghdad, acknowledged that the firings had taken place but said the figure of 28,000 "is too high."
He was unable, however, after two days, to supply UPI with a lower, revised total.
The Central Command spokesman attributed the firings to "tough, new anti-Baath Party measures" recently passed by the U.S.-created Iraqi Governing Council, dominated by Ahmed Chalabi, a favorite of administration hawks in the White House and Pentagon.
So, 28,000 members of 28,000 Iraqi families will no longer be employed in a country where the unemployment rate is hovering between 70 and 60 %. Iraqis have large, extended families, that are closer and see each other more often than many of our nuclear families. So multiply that 28,000 X oh, let's say on average 6 1/2 other Iraqis.
Brilliant.
"It's a piece of real stupidity on the part of the neocons to try and equate the Baath Party with the Nazis," said former CIA official Larry Johnson. "You have to make a choice: Either you are going to deal with Iraqis who are capable of rebuilding and running the country or you're going to turn Iraq over to those who can't."
(edit)
"It's an incredible error," said former senior CIA official and Middle East expert Graham Fuller. "In Germany, after World War II, the de-nazification program was applied with almost surgical precision in order not to antagonize German public opinion. In the case of Iraq, ideologues don't seem to grasp the seriousness of their acts."
Isn't this the same mistake they made with the Iraqi army? And again, with Iraqi civilians who'd been running important slices of what kept civil society going in Iraq before we invaded? What, is this administration preternaturally unable to learn from their own mistakes? Of course, in order to learn from one, you have to be able to admit you made one.
And in January, Iraqis can look forward to the UN Food program being discontinued. Or have they come to their senses on this one? If so, I haven't heard about it.
You know, I'm starting to get really, really, angry.
Try and imagine if you were an Iraqi, trying to hold together a life for you and your family?
