Rebuilding Iraq, no doctors who are not anti-abortion

[Hamlette]

The Newsweek article last week on the rebuilding or Iraq was devastating to the admin. Gardner put together a team headed by 20 people from the state department. Rumsfeld nixed 16 of them including a doctor telling Gardner's people it was because the doctor was pro-choice.

Why hasn't this story had more attention? What difference did it make? Defense was running the show on "nation building" even though they loathed the thought.

Leads to the larger question: why did we turn our government over to people who hate government? (Krugman's introduction on this is great.)

I'm depressed.

Gonna have to listen to "Cal-eee-for-na" for the next three years.

[Paschall]

1. Unless you provide us an article excerpt and a link

...this post doesn't belong in Latest Breaking News and will probably get deleted or moved by the moderators to another section of DU. Please see the posting rules.

I'd like to know more...

[Judi Lynn]

2. I found reference to this story in a different source

(snip) Last February, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner to cut 16 of the 20 State Department officials from his roster of experts to rebuild Iraq after the war was over. It seems that the State Department people were deemed to be Arabist apologists, or squishy about the United Nations, or in some way politically incorrect to the right-wing ideologues at the White House or the neocons in the office of the Secretary of Defense, Newsweek reports. The vetting process "got so bad that even doctors sent to restore medical services had to be anti-abortion," recalls one of Garner's team to Newsweek. Finally, Secretary of State Colin Powell tried to stand up for his troops and stop Rumsfeld's meddling. "I can take hostages, too," Powell warned the secretary of Defense. "How hard do you want to play this thing?"
(snip/...)

~~~~ link ~~~~

[Dookus]

3. Sorry... gonna lock

please provide a link or a reference to a valid news-source.

If you find a recent link, please feel free to re-post.


Thanks a lot.


Dookus
DU Moderator