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Iraq loses experts in U.S. purge
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The removal of members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from public office in war-torn Iraq is creating problems for U.S.-led administrators trying to get the country back on its feet. Even the civilian authority's new chief admits the plan to sack up to 30,000 public sector workers will leave Iraq without the experts it needs in services like health care, power and water. Under Saddam's one-party state most public servants had to be Baath members. L. Paul Bremer, a former State Department counterterrorism official who took office last week, said he would issue orders "to extirpate Baathists and Baathism from Iraq forever ... We have and will aggressively move to seek to identify these people and remove them from office." (Full story) "In some cases, we have found, people who have offered to work with us have turned out to be members of the Baath Party," Bremer said. "Those people have been put out of office when we found that out." But by forcing senior and mid-ranking levels out from all parts of public life, the coalition could be losing many of Iraq's most educated and experienced administrators as they strive to rebuild the shattered country. Officials from schools, transport and hospitals are also expected to be removed in the next few months, but opinion is divided among Iraqi people as to how far the U.S.-led administration should go. One Baath party official fired this week from his job as Baghdad's transport chief, for example, is remembered fondly by his former employees. Salam Ali, a bus driver in the capital believes Yarub Hussein Kareem should have remained in his position. "He's a fair man. Despite being a party man, he gave us all our rights ... even our shares of the profits," he said. By contrast, previous bosses would jail drivers for taking sick days and make them pay for broken windshields or blown tires out of their own pocket. Kareem, who took up his post late last year, did not do this, staff said. Since the war, drivers are more concerned about simply taking enough fares to cover the cost of oil and gas than removing Baath officials. They say they are doing their bit for Baghdad by saving the buses from looters and keeping public transport moving. "Why do they call it freedom? I would feel it was freedom when they come and ask me what I want," one Baghdad bus driver, Ali Abdul Aziz, told CNN. Mousa Jabaar, a fellow driver, added: "There are party members who are honest and serve the people well. You should look at the human quality of people." The cost of rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads, water and power supply in war-torn Iraq is estimated at up to $200 billion after 12 years of sanctions. -- CNN's Karl Penhaul contributed to this report
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