Bremer fires 28,000 teachers for Baath party membership.

[Classical_Liberal]

"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."

Facing a spreading insurgency, this was "not the time to turn out into the street more recruits for the anti-U.S. insurgency," Johnson said.

"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."

Administration officials told UPI that from the beginning of Bremer's arrival in Iraq, the Bush administration has consistently misplayed the issue of Iraq's former ruling Sunni group, most of whom were members of the Baath, but who are also the most able and knowledgeable administrators in the country. In addition, many able government employees joined the Baath Party not out of any special political sympathies, but simply to attain or retain their jobs.

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=Cp72B0eidAxjHCs1ICMvTzxi

[Old and In the Way]

1. Dumb, dumb, dumb

Will they be promoting their vision of home schooling to go along with their brand of Republican-style democracy?

Absolutely a bonehead move.

[madrchsod]

2. they would do the same here

ever listen to the screamers go on about the teachers unions?

[Syncronaut Seven]

3. All that time on their hands now.

I wonder how many of them are competent with a weapon?

It makes sense, but only from a PNAC perspective.

The goal has never been to stabilize Iraq, The goal has always been to decimate Iraq. Period.

[number6]

4. Bremer is an Idiot

..

[bemildred]

5. "In Iraq Debate, Bremer Comes Out a Winner"

He seems to be the new head-idiot in Iraq.

WASHINGTON - The war for control of Iraq may be far from over,
but at least one power struggle appears to have been resolved for
now: the battle for influence in Washington.

After months of sniping between the Pentagon, which seized control
of Iraq policy before the U.S. invasion, and the State Department,
which was irritated at being cut out, an apparent winner has emerged:
L. Paul Bremer III, the former State Department official who is the
chief U.S. civilian administrator in Baghdad.

On paper, Bremer still reports to Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld and works for Rumsfeld's department, which controls his
budget, his staffing and even his ground transportation in Baghdad.
But in fact, officials say, Bremer now reports to Rumsfeld, national
security advisor Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell simultaneously -- and often directly to President Bush, the
surest signal of clout in Washington.

As a result, officials said, Bremer has begun to fill a new and
increasingly autonomous role as Bush's de facto "secretary for Iraq."

More babble from the LA Times (reg. req.)