Disbanding the Iraqi Army

Much was and has been made about Ambassador Bremer’s decision to disband the Iraqi Army. I want to relate the situation as it was on the ground at the time. Prior to the actual decision being made, we had many of our interpreters coming up to us and insisting that “Saddam’s Army” be disbanded. Now, this was no idle commentary as Saddam’s Army was primarily a Sunni Army, made up almost exclusively of Sunni Muslims. Iraq, however, is around 60% Shia Muslim and 20% ethnic Kurds. So we had 80% of the population saying to us in no uncertain terms that this army should be disbanded. We all have seen how troublesome the ensuing insurgency was in Iraq. And this was with 20% of the population engaged in it (the Sunnis). Imagine if it was the other 80%? So in that regard, Bremer made the right decision.
Where he screwed up was that he didn’t give the de-mobilized soldiers anything to do. At the end of World War II, we took German and Japanese POW’s and army formations and turned them into labor battalions. We set them to work to re-build their countries. We should have done that with the Iraqi Army. Hindsight.