Rumsfeld warns Iraqis against cronyism

Times Online:

Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, warned Iraqi politicians today not to purge the security forces and stack the ranks with their own men. Lack of confidence or corruption in government would be "unfortunate", Mr Rumsfeld said in Baghdad today on a short and unannounced visit to Iraq. There are fears that the Shia Muslim and Kurdish parties, which came to power in the January 30 election, could fire Sunni officials in revenge for the decades of oppression they suffered under Saddam Hussein’s regime. "It’s important that the new government be attentive to the competence of the people in the ministries and that they avoid unnecessary turbulence," Mr Rumsfeld said.

In many ways this will probably be a more difficult challenge than defeating the insurgency. In many democracies and quasi-democracies corruption is a huge problem. We certainly are not immune from this problem in America, although it is less of a problem here than most places.