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| Iraq |
| Saddam officers by the thousands respond to recruitment offer |
| 2005-11-25 |
| BAGHDAD — Officers who served in Saddam Hussein's military forces have been flocking to join the Iraq Army. U.S. officials said that over the last month, thousands of Saddam officers have applied to join the Iraq Army. They said after a screening most of the applicants were accepted. The Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq reported that as of Nov. 20, 3,769 Saddam officers applied to join the Iraq Army, Middle East Newsline reported. MSTC-I said the Defense Ministry accepted 2,662 officers. In October, the Defense Ministry called for junior and mid-level officers of Saddam's army to apply for jobs in the new military force. Officials said the campaign was meant to overcome a serious shortage in experienced junior and mid-level officers in the Iraq Army, which now numbers about 100,000. The ministry has established six recruiting centers throughout Iraq. Officials said the recruiting drive would continue into December. "The expectation is that the goals will be exceeded," a U.S. Defense Department statement said. Officials said the recruitment effort has sought officers ranking from lieutenant to major. They said members of the Special Republican Guards or Baath Party members from Level 4 and above would not be accepted. "Experience and professional competence, not ethnicity, are the focus of the recruitment effort," the Pentagon statement said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 Good plan and good timimg. The Major and below ranks are still young enough to have been isolated from the corruption. They are also idealistic, ready for change and not ground into any one system. Sounds to me like the Iraq govt is taking lessons learned from other countries. Good move! |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-11-25 19:03 |
| #4 And only three years late. Better late than never, I guess. Sorry, Curt - don't agree. Keeping the then-Iraqi army and its existing system intact would have short-sightedly stupid. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-11-25 16:16 |
| #3 Actually, I think the timing is right. The officers will need serious re-education in many ways, and would not have made a good core for the new army. We have spent the time well, the new officers are disciplined, far more honest and intolerant of dishonesty, they are not political hacks and tribal appointments, they are versed in American/NATO rather than Russian tactics and training, they are "effective" combat experienced, and they overwhelmingly outnumber these old officers. Most of these guys will have to go back to school, be closely supervised in leadership and managerial skills, be scrutinized for honesty, be disciplined to not abuse or mistreat their subordinates, be trained to be "national" soldiers rather than "ethnic or tribal" soldiers, and get lots of training in tactics, strategy, training and operations. It will be teaching old dogs new tricks. The biggest plus is that it restores them to a position of honor in society, providing them jobs appropriate to their station, and it also gives their family a vested interest in good behavior. It takes them out of the hands of the insurgency, and right at a time when much of it seems to be crumbling anyway. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-11-25 15:38 |
| #2 Some of these former Saddam-era officers are going to be moles for the Baathist branch of the "insurgency" [spit]; nonetheless, this is going to go a long way toward splitting the Baathists from the al Qaeda types and making the "insurgency" [spit] all foreign and thus all unacceptable to the Iraqi people. I smell a major political victory here. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2005-11-25 15:28 |
| #1 And only three years late. Better late than never, I guess. |
| Posted by: Curt Simon 2005-11-25 15:24 |