Iraq Quagmire Alert: Another Democratic Talking Point Takes A Hit

Most Democratic politicians have had to confront the reality that the Petraeus counter insurgency strategy has succeeded in increasing security in Iraq and dramatically reducing US casualties.

Yet many have found comfort in pointing out that political progress has lagged. “The Benchmarks! The Iraqis aren’t meeting the benchmarks”, they screech.
Well, today the Iraqi Parliament passed the so called “de-Baathification” law, one of those benchmarks we hear so much about.

The bill approved Saturday, titled the Accountability and Justice law, seeks to relax restrictions on the rights of members of the now-dissolved Baath party to fill government posts.

It is also designed to reinstate thousands of Baathists dismissed from government jobs after the 2003 U.S. invasion — a decision that deepened sectarian tensions between Iraq's majority Shiites and the once-dominant Sunni Arabs, who believed the firings targeted their community.

…The law will allow low-ranking Baathists not involved in past crimes against Iraqis to go back to their jobs. High-ranking Baathists will be sent to compulsory retirement and those involved in crimes will stand trial, though their families will still have the right to pension.

The Baathists who were members in Saddam's security agencies must retire — except for members of Fidayeen Saddam, a feared militia formed by Saddam's eldest son, Oday. They will be entitled to nothing.

Of course this won’t stop the Democrats in their push to surrender (though there’s really no one left to surrender to any more). No, in Hugh Hewitt like fashion this setback for their position will be ignored or spun in to some kind of proof that it means the exact opposite of what it obviously is.

The Iraqis still have much work to do but to use the words of one prominent Democrat, it would take a willful suspension of disbelief to believe the Democratic line on Iraq.

posted by DrewM. at 12:36 PM

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