Ba'athists leery of role in new military

Ba'athists leery of role in new military
By Vivienne Walt, Globe Correspondent | May 11, 2004

BAGHDAD -- Zuher Al-Qubeisi seems the kind of man analysts have been saying American commanders could use as they battle armed militia in several Iraqi cities. He has fought in three wars and won 15 medals during a 20-year career, all without an injury. Lieutenant Colonel Qubeisi is also unemployed, and says he loves being a professional soldier.

There is one hitch, however.

"I would rather kill myself than fight other Iraqis," said Qubeisi, 37, standing outside Baghdad's officer-recruiting station on Saturday while applying for a slot in Iraq's new military. And would he defend Iraq alongside the 135,000 American troops in the country? "No way," he said.

With US officials scheduled to transfer sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30, a functioning Iraqi military has become one of the most urgent needs. US officials are racing to cobble together a new Iraqi Army, to jointly tackle the country's massive security problems after July 1.

In a sharp reversal from previous US policy, the top US administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, announced last month that he would relax the ban on hiring ranking members of the Ba'ath Party for civil service jobs, including the new military. Bremer also reconstituted Iraq's Ministry of Defense, which he disbanded by decree a year ago. He appointed as minister Ali al-Allawi, a civilian educated at MIT and Harvard Business School, who was previously Iraq's trade minister.

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http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/05/11/baathists_leery_of_role_in_new_military/

Imagine the U.S. invaded by a hostile nation, cities occupied and burned. To maintain order, the invaders, long on armaments but short on manpower, begin conscripting leftover military and former military folks. How many American service men and women are going to fire on their friends and neighbors at the behest of the occupiers? Damn few, and they'd better hope they can stay awake forever.

And yet the bozos running the Iraq caper don't have any more sense than to force the locals to "police" other locals.