Baathist face retribution
Washington Post:
...
"Two weeks ago, as Taee sat alone in his small real estate office, a lone gunman shot him in the chest, according to his brothers, citing witness accounts. He died before reaching the hospital.
"His death was one of the latest in a series of murders of former Baath Party officials in this city . . . Iraqi sources with contacts among former and current security officials estimate that about 50 senior figures in Hussein's intelligence, military intelligence and internal security organizations have been gunned down in recent months. There has been an even larger toll among neighborhood party officials, such as Taee, who are blamed for having informed on the local community during Hussein's rule, these sources said.
"Neither the morgue nor officers in Iraq's new police force -- who concede they have little interest in probing these deaths -- have tallied the figures. But the phenomenon is citywide, according to a survey of police stations, with numbers varying widely from one district to another.
...
"The massive settling of scores that some U.S. and Iraqi officials had predicted did not initially materialize after Hussein's government fell in April. Sporadic killings occurred during the following months, notably in the southern city of Basra. But only in recent weeks did the tempo of attacks accelerate as Iraqis, frustrated with the slow progress of the court system and fearing that Baathists may be seeking to reorganize, have increasingly taken justice into their own hands, according to Iraqi security and political sources."
There is a more obvious answer. The attacks on coalition forces and Iraqis who cooperate with them is led by people who want to reinstate the Baathist. Clearly most Iraqis do not want them back in power and on a local level are taking steps to keep it from happening. When the Baathist stop attacking and give up there will be less reason for "retribution."
Washington Post:
...
"Two weeks ago, as Taee sat alone in his small real estate office, a lone gunman shot him in the chest, according to his brothers, citing witness accounts. He died before reaching the hospital.
"His death was one of the latest in a series of murders of former Baath Party officials in this city . . . Iraqi sources with contacts among former and current security officials estimate that about 50 senior figures in Hussein's intelligence, military intelligence and internal security organizations have been gunned down in recent months. There has been an even larger toll among neighborhood party officials, such as Taee, who are blamed for having informed on the local community during Hussein's rule, these sources said.
"Neither the morgue nor officers in Iraq's new police force -- who concede they have little interest in probing these deaths -- have tallied the figures. But the phenomenon is citywide, according to a survey of police stations, with numbers varying widely from one district to another.
...
"The massive settling of scores that some U.S. and Iraqi officials had predicted did not initially materialize after Hussein's government fell in April. Sporadic killings occurred during the following months, notably in the southern city of Basra. But only in recent weeks did the tempo of attacks accelerate as Iraqis, frustrated with the slow progress of the court system and fearing that Baathists may be seeking to reorganize, have increasingly taken justice into their own hands, according to Iraqi security and political sources."
There is a more obvious answer. The attacks on coalition forces and Iraqis who cooperate with them is led by people who want to reinstate the Baathist. Clearly most Iraqis do not want them back in power and on a local level are taking steps to keep it from happening. When the Baathist stop attacking and give up there will be less reason for "retribution."
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