Iraq launches purge of Interior Ministry

[Farnan]

Iraq fired 62,000 accused of corruption
Updated at: 2025 PST, Sunday, March 22, 2009
CHICAGO: Iraq has fired 62,000 employees accused of corruption and is dismantling sectarianism among its police signs that it has turned a corner en route to eventual self-rule, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani wrote in a US newspaper Sunday.

He wrote that the firings occurred within his Interior ministry, which employs a half-million workers.

"We've tackled corruption by firing 62,000 employees and begun to dismantle sectarianism by prohibiting all political activity by police officers and creating a force made up of all Iraqis, Shiite, Sunni and Kurd," Bolani wrote in his opinion piece.

It is my hope that again the ministry will be a mirror of Iraq, only this time for a country united and at peace."

Bolani wrote that the Iraqi police service, the national police, the border patrol and other law enforcement agencies "continue to swell with new recruits, eager to maintain the stability necessary for Iraq to succeed."

He said the inroads in security mark a dramatic turnaround from the years after Saddam Hussein was deposed by US troops.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=72335

Hopefully this purge was successful...

[Nikos]

Good job Iraq! Hopefully they can get rid of the more corrupt elements in the Government. It seems like Iraqi is really starting to come together now!

[Farnan]

The number is extremely high though which worries me. Hopefully none of these firings were politically motivated.

[Nikos]

The number is extremely high though which worries me. Hopefully none of these firings were politically motivated.

That would be a step backwards. I'm optimistic so I'm going to say the high number of firings shows how corrupt the Iraqi government was and how they are moving forward. I just hope I'm right.

[Major.Stupidity]

The number is extremely high though which worries me. Hopefully none of these firings were politically motivated.

Everything in the Interior Ministry is highly politically motivated.

[Zephyrus]

Everything in the Interior Ministry is highly politically motivated.

This could have a major backlash effect then. Better keep an eye on the unemployed.

[Pious Agnost]

I'll bite my tongue and admit it.
I was certain Iraq would never work.
Hollow defeat I suppose, is that even a term?

[Farnan]

Well what I'm thinking is with the loss of people and thus less constraint on the budget, how about making the Sons of Iraq a part of the Interior Ministry?

And I hope you're right.

[Nikos]

Well what I'm thinking is with the loss of people and thus less constraint on the budget, how about making the Sons of Iraq a part of the Interior Ministry?

That's a good idea. They should do something to integrate the sons of Iraq into the government. It would also reduce the likelihood of the sons of Iraq becoming an anti-government militia.

[Dismounted H@Xx0rZ]

The Iraqi leadership is trying to set up an example for the rest of the troublemakers. Drastic purges like this will have a major impact on the reliability and integrity of the state, as well as send the message that the past is out and the present is in.

[Carach]

but the kurds have no intention of allowing Iraq to be united with them included. theyre all but independent right now...

[Farnan]

but the kurds have no intention of allowing Iraq to be united with them included. theyre all but independent right now...

They're an autonomous region but have no desire to separate from Iraq.

[Carach]

They're an autonomous region but have no desire to separate from Iraq.

it would be, perhaps, in their interests to remain united as turkey and iran would sure like to screw them over otherwise...

but its a reluctant partner in this.

[Farnan]

Becoming less and less reluctant. They know they can't go independent so they see they might as well make the best of it.

[Каие]

They should separate. They deserve it.

[Farnan]

They should separate. They deserve it.

Maybe...

But Turkey won't allow it and not sure about Iran. Right now they govern their own internal matters, and are basically a country within a country. Independence will only really give them more foreign affairs ability.

They are like Hong Kong and Macau in China.

Oh and thanks to them being part of Iraq, a Kurd will lead the Arab League.

Also:

ANKARA, March 16 (Reuters) - Iraq's President Jalal Talabani has told a Turkish newspaper that an independent Kurdish state in Iraq was "impossible", in comments meant to calm Ankara's historical suspicion towards Kurdish separatism on its own soil.

Turkey, which has a large Kurdish minority and is fighting Kurdish separatist guerrillas, has traditionally feared that a Kurdish state in neighbouring Iraq would reignite independence in the southeast.

Talabani, a Kurd, told the Sabah daily in an interview published on Monday that an independent Kurdish state could not survive because neighbouring Turkey, Iran and Syria would close their borders. Iran and Syria also have a sizeable Kurdish minority.

"I tell this to my Turkish brothers: Don't be afraid of Kurdish independence. To stay within Iraq is in the interest of the Kurdish people in an economic, cultural and political sense." Talabani, who is in Istanbul to attend a global forum on water, also said Kurdish nationalists' dream of a Great Kurdistan was "a dream in poems". He said his views were shared by Iraq's autonomous government.

After years of fraught relations, Turkey's government has improved its contacts with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The two administrations have held recent high-level meetings and share intelligence in the fight against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Talabani met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan late on Sunday and both men discussed security issues, Anatolian state-run news agency said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lates...s/idUSLG519166

[Каие]

I guess to see a Kurd leading the Arab league, it's almost worth it.

But in all seriousness they are de facto independent, suffered a lot in the past so the legitimacy is there already. I personally sincerely believe we need a big and strong Kurdistan to balance the Arab-Persian-Turkish-Jewish cluster which is currently going on. It could do wonders.

[Farnan]

I guess to see a Kurd leading the Arab league, it's almost worth it.

But in all seriousness they are de facto independent, suffered a lot in the past so the legitimacy is there already. I personally sincerely believe we need a big and strong Kurdistan to balance the Arab-Persian-Turkish-Jewish cluster which is currently going on. It could do wonders.

Apparently the Kurds themselves are upset with their ruling parties: http://www.newsweek.com/id/189239/page/1

I think a strong Iraq can work towards fixing the cluster being composed of Kurds-Arabs-Turkmen-Assyrians and perhaps work as the middle man. With good Arab credentials and an ability to serve as a middle man with Iran.

An independent Kurdistan would create a further unbalance, driving Turkish invaders and cause it to be a Arab-Persian-Turkish-Jewish-Kurdish cluster

[Каие]

Iraq had it's chance it chose to invade Iran, and try and take out Saudi Arabia. Which then got us into this mess in the first place. Iraq is too divided as a democracy along other lines, religious or social, to be as strong as it was before under Saddam, whereas the Kurds are one people.

[Farnan]

Iraq had it's chance it chose to invade Iran, and try and take out Saudi Arabia. Which then got us into this mess in the first place. Iraq is too divided as a democracy along other lines, religious or social, to be as strong as it was before under Saddam, whereas the Kurds are one people.

However, a Kurdistan will be like another Israel in the Middle East, except Secular Muslim, rather than Jewish.