Throwing cold water into De-Baath

By Libby

Cernig posted here on the new De-Baathification law in Iraq yesterday, so I posted my own reservations about the development at my other blog. Today Juan Cole unfortunately validates my pessimism.

If the new law was good for ex-Baathists, then the ex-Baathists in parliament will have voted for it and praised it, right? And likely the Sadrists (hard line anti-Baath Shiites) and Kurds would be a little upset.

Instead, parliament's version of this law was spearheaded by Sadrists, and the ex-Baathists in parliament criticized it.

I'm afraid my initial reaction was correct and it's not time to pop any champagne corks yet. This appears to be more a parliamentary parlor trick designed to play to the US audience than it is a real breakthrough in placating the displaced Baathists. In fact, the Baathists lose more than they gain with this new legislation.