The return of Saddam's officers

By Michael J.W. Stickings

They're back:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday Iraqi army officers of all ranks sacked after the U.S. invasion in 2003 would be allowed to reapply for their posts in the new army.

A little late, no? This should have happened in 2003, not 2006. But Paul Bremer (and his overlords) made the terrible decision to disband the army.

If the army had been reconstituted back then, the security situation in Iraq might not be as bad as it is today. Of course, the Shiites and Kurds would likely have responded negatively to the reinstatement of Sunni officers from Saddam's army, and, to be sure, there is a lot of room for second guessing here. But it does seem that a concerted effort to rebuild an Iraqi army -- a cross-sectarian army with at least some Sunni officers -- early on in the occupation could have prevented the quick rise of a Sunni insurgency, as well as lessened the extent of the insurgency altogether, and avoided the eventual development of an unprepared army that must contend with both the Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias, as well as a largely Shiite police force that contributes to the escalating sectarian violence.

But there's the gross mismanagement of the Iraq War for you. So much was botched, but this was one of the key mistakes.