Iraq: September 20, 2003

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Saddam's minister of defense surrendered, after long negotiations. Much effort has been going into sorting out which Baath Party members were really pro-Baath and which served under duress. The former defense minister, Sultan Hashem Ahmad, was generally seen as a good man who served to spare his family the wrath of Baath. Talking to a lot of Iraqis eventually determines which former official was really a good guy. But anyone who had anything to do with Baath will rise the ire of someone, so there will always be problems putting former Baath Party members back to work.