Iraq

Britain 'backed US decision to disband Saddam's army'

The British Government and military high command fully supported the controversial US policy of disbanding Saddam Hussein's armed forces after the 2003 invasion, according to Washington's former proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer.

Stung by remarks from President George Bush that he alone had been responsible for one of the most disastrous mistakes of the war while running the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Mr Bremer went to some lengths to set the record straight yesterday and provided previously unknown details of British support for the US policy.

British military officers were also enthusiastic supporters of the policy of de-Baathification – or sacking members of Saddam's Baath party from the security services, according to Mr Bremer. The policy, which he still defends, has been blamed for creating a security vacuum which enabled a Sunni as well as an al-Qa'ida insurgency to take hold. In a searing opinion article in yesterday's New York Times, Mr Bremer tried to defend himself from becoming the scapegoat for the administration's failures in Iraq.

No shit sherlock! I've blogged many times about how disbanding the local elites will only cause trouble for a occupying force. The Iraq Occupation sowed the seeds of its current problems in the first few days after the invasion, with policies like De-Baathification.

Riverbend on Arriving in Syria: The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness... How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death? How is it that a border no one can see or touch stands between car bombs, militias, death squads and... peace, safety? It's difficult to believe- even now. I sit here and write this and wonder why I can't hear the explosions. I wonder at how the windows don't rattle as the planes pass overhead. I'm trying to rid myself of the expectation that armed people in black will break through the door and into our lives. I'm trying to let my eyes grow accustomed to streets free of road blocks, hummers and pictures of Muqtada and the rest... How is it that all of this lies a short car ride away?

Syria recently has decided to close their border to Iraqi refugees, a consequence of the badly run occupation.

If Iraqis find selling their blood doesn't make them any money, then they can turn to the drug trade in the New and Improved Iraq -

BAGHDAD, 6 September 2007 (IRIN) - Abu Teif, 52, is a drug seller. Previously unemployed and living in poverty, he got into drug dealing to support his family - three children and a handicapped wife.