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IRAQ ASKS RETURN OF SOME OFFICERS OF HUSSEIN ARMY
New York Times, The (NY) - November 3, 2005

Author: EDWARD WONG ; Reporting for this article was contributed by Dexter Filkins, Qais Mizher and Ali Adeeb in Baghdad, and Eric Schmitt and Steven R. Weisman in Washington.

The Iraqi government called Wednesday for the return of junior officers from the disbanded army of Saddam Hussein, openly reversing an American directive issued in 2003.

The move is aimed at draining the insurgency of recruits and bolstering the Iraqi security forces, Iraqi officials said.

The Defense Ministry, with the support of the American military, has quietly recruited a few thousand former officers over the last 18 months. But this is the first time it has offered an open invitation to broad classes of former officers to rejoin the armed forces.

The move could represent a political overture by the Shiite-led government to disaffected Sunni Arabs, possibly to drum up support before the December legislative elections.

With the announcement on Wednesday, any former officers up to the rank of major are eligible for reinstatement by applying in November at recruitment centers in six cities across Iraq.

The move by the Defense Ministry represents the most public departure yet from an American policy instituted by L. Paul Bremer III, the former head of the American occupation, of cleansing the Iraqi government and security forces of former members of Mr. Hussein's Baath Party and disbanding the Iraqi Army .

Many American commanders and military analysts have said the dissolution of the 400,000-member Iraqi Army in May 2003 drove many thousands of Sunni Arab soldiers and officers into the insurgency while depriving the country of a force that could help restore order. American and Iraqi officials now say a core part of the Sunni-led insurgency is made up of former members of Mr. Hussein's military.

Iraqi officials said any recruits signing up in November would go through a rigorous screening process intended to weed out possible insurgents.

Both the Americans and the Iraqis have been retreating in stages from Mr. Bremer’s original “de-Baathification” order since early 2004. But American and Iraqi officials said Wednesday's announcement was significant for several reasons.

It not only explicitly extends an invitation to thousands more officers, but in symbolic terms, it also represents an official recognition of a practice under way for some time.

Some senior American military officials said Wednesday that the announcement seemed aimed at Sunni Arab officers, relatively few of whom have rejoined the military. They added that the Iraqi Army was desperately short of midlevel officers.

In Washington, a State Department official said that in negotiations on the constitution earlier this year, overseen by the United States ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, the Shiite majority agreed to lift some restrictions on Baath Party participation in the government.

“It was loosened a bit, but it was not a dramatic loosening that might have led more Sunnis to support the constitution in the referendum,” said the official, who requested anonymity so he would not be seen as interfering in Iraqi affairs.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Saleh Sarhan, said in an interview that Iraq needed the expertise of the former officers. The new army is trying to rebuild armor and artillery units and wants the return of tank drivers, mechanics and others, he added.

“We're trying to carry out big operations against the terrorists, such as sealing the borders of Iraq,” Mr. Sarhan said.

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