I remember when the Baath Party took over Abdel Karim Kasim's leadership. It did it wth a very strict hand, and placed a socialist regime vouching the opportunity of full employmnt, full medicar, and full education t the masses. The 5 year plan was implemeted, and I saw Iraq grow. Before Saddam Hussein, Al-Bakr began the industrial boom. In 1972, when the oil crisis was felt in Europe and the world, Iraq vowed that th extra income would open the gate for re-modernising Iraq. During the late 70's, The Government headed by Saddam's Baathists allowed mixed sectors and private sectors to set-up manufacturing with government financing at 0%. These were the times when many Iraqis began to widen their horizons by travelling to the Industrial nations searching for knowledge and knowhow, to implement it in Iraq. During my 60 years of travelling in the Middle East, I was admitted in Hospital in Baghdad for a minor operation. I spent 14 days, and ca confirm that most professional medical Doctors were graduated in the UK, US, Switzerland, and Canada. The surgical theatres were of the most modern units found in the US and Europe.
Although I have elaborated in my prelude, I am certain that Iraq will only survive if such a regime is put back, to lead the country with NO INTERFERENCE from so-called pacifists who have no clue of local traditions and customs, Furthermore, in my opinion, Iraq did no wrong (except what George Bush Snr.) had planned for their own interests. Destabilize Iraq, Threaten Iran, and Syria, where the planned pipelines will be errected unhindered. Russia tried for 10 years and failed. Now the Nato is trying, and will fail too. As for Bush Jnr.! well, he has put many lives in danger on both sides, bankrupted the US economy, Damaged relations between the US and the rest of the world, Perhaps B. Obama will listen closer to the actual truth of what is happening in the region, and seriously consider mending ties unconditionally.
I may see some drastic changes during my lifetime (I Hope!!)
The Return of the Baathists
For years this man has spoken out for members of Saddam's old party. Now Iraqis are listening.
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Grinning with vindication, Saleh al-Mutlaq says he knew this day would come. For years the amiable, disheveled parliamentarian, now 61, has been the foremost defender of Iraqis with ties to Saddam Hussein's old party. In return, Mutlaq and his allies have been called just about everything from opportunists to terrorists. Nevertheless, he claims, he told Nuri al- Maliki four years ago that someday Maliki would beg the Baathists to come back.
Now Iraq's fiercely anti-Baathist prime minister has come close to fulfilling Mutlaq's implausible prediction—though on his own terms. Without naming the party, Maliki announced that Iraq would welcome the return of "those who at one time were obligated to be on the side of the former regime," as long as they accept Iraq's new order. Sami al-Askari, a confidant of the prime minister's, puts it this way: "He's trying to say, 'Look, our door is open if you're willing to participate in the political process and willing to stop the violence'." The call has set off a national debate on the Baathists, with Mutlaq in the thick of it.
After six years, Iraq's ostracism of old Baathists is easing. Mutlaq's party did well enough in January's local elections to make him a contender for the political leadership of Iraq's Sunni minority. The Shiite leadership as well is quietly reaching out to Sunni Baathists living in neighboring countries. Iraqi officials say the Americans are encouraging that reconciliation while trying to develop U.S. channels to Baathists; the efforts could reduce the risk of violence as American troops withdraw. In a Green Zone restaurant NEWSWEEK recently overheard a U.S. diplomat asking Iraqi officials to help set up a meeting with one of the most extreme elements of Saddam's old regime. The diplomat suggested Amman or another "neutral" city. A U.S. Embassy official, asking not to be named because of the issue's sensitivity, had no knowledge of this conversation but added, "It's for the Iraqis to decide how far and how fast they want to go. We want to try to help any way we can."
Most Iraqis are tired of a government that clearly has trouble turning on the lights and keeping the water flowing. The people who used to do that—and who rebuilt the place after massive U.S. airstrikes in 1991—had mostly joined the Baath Party on their way to graduate educations and top jobs. During the years of chaos that followed the U.S. invasion, many of the best-educated and most skilled party members fled the country to seek jobs and safety for their families elsewhere, and a lot of them have stayed away.
That's the heart of Mutlaq's case. "Maliki realized now he cannot run a state without the technocrats, the professional people that built this country for 35 years," says Mutlaq. "Most of those are Baathists." At American urging, the Iraqi Army has already brought thousands of former officers—all nominally Baathists—back into the ranks. Most, though, are Shiites. Sunnis still feel left out.
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