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Online Articles -> Yawar cites U.S., Britain errors in Iraq (12/13/2004 9:32:50 PM)
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Iraq's interim president, Ghazi Al Yawar, said that the United States and Britain made a huge mistake when they dismantled the country’s security apparatus after removing Saddam Hussein.
"Dissolving the ministry of defense and ministry of the interior was a big mistake at that time," Yawar told BBC radio.
He also said that these moves resulted in a security vacuum that is contributing to the ongoing violence and lawlessness.
"We could have screened people out instead of screening them in and this could have saved us a lot of hassle and problems," he said.
The former civilian overseer at the head of the U.S.-led occupation authorities in Iraq, Paul Bremer, dissolved the country’s defense ministry and disarmed the forces on May 23, 2003.
“Clean record”
Yawar blamed some of the present problems on the U.S. decision to dismantle the entire security force of Saddam Hussein when they removed the former Iraqi leader last year.
He said that many officials with a clean record were forced out of the security apparatus along with the villains.
"We have to reinstate some of the clean-record army officers and police officers," he said, noting that he had made the same arguments during his visit to the United States last week.
He also said that security could be improved once Iraq forms "100% efficient Iraqi forces".
"As soon as we have efficient security forces that we can depend on we can see the beginning of the withdrawal of forces from our friends and partners and I think it doesn't take years, it takes months," he adds.
A challenge
Yawar said that he expects an upsurge in violence ahead of the January 30 poll. But he insisted that the upcoming elections will be held as planned and said that the interim government views it as a challenge that it must meet.
The interim president also said that voters from Sunni areas will participate in the elections, adding that the main challenge is making sure that people can vote safely.
"This is what we are trying to work on right now," he said.
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