# U.S. officers: Iraq's police force should be disbanded **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 6, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240 "2007-09-06T13:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240/21 "2007-09-07T04:17:54Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] But disbanding the old army meant that overnight the country filled up with disgruntled, unemployed men with military training and experience – who then found multiple new political factions (and ordinary crime gangs, I have no doubt) only too eager to give them work – vastly exacerbating, by several orders of magnitude, the insurgency/crime problem the new army has to deal with. [/quote] No. You are confusing revamping the post-Saddam army with disbanding the Saddam, Ba’athist army. > [@](#): > > Admittedly, disbanding the existing police force would not create such a problem on quite the same scale . . . but, then, building up a new force from scratch would take **time,** the one thing neither we nor the Iraqis can afford. > > South Africa, when Apartheid ended, disbanded the old (all-white) police forces – which might have seemed necessary and proper at the time, but it led to an incredible national crime problem the newly trained multiracial police forces are only just now beginning to get under control. And they didn’t have to deal with political rebels! Well, this is your debate topic. Why don’t you offer something positive that should be done instead of just criticizing what others have proposed. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240/22 "2007-09-07T07:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Why don’t you offer something positive that should be done instead of just criticizing what others have proposed. [/QUOTE] What makes you think that there is anything positive to be done ? Besides leaving, which won’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240/23 "2007-09-07T14:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] No. You are confusing revamping the post-Saddam army with disbanding the Saddam, Ba’athist army. [/quote] 😕 Bremer **did** disband the Saddam, Ba’athist army. (A move [he now insists Bush approved,](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/04/washington/04bremer.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin) BTW), following which Iraq filled up with disgruntled, unemployed men, etc. And when has the post-Saddam army ever been “revamped”? [QUOTE=John Mace] Well, this is your debate topic. Why don’t you offer something positive that should be done instead of just criticizing what others have proposed. [/QUOTE] Something positive? **PULL THE TROOPS OUT!** ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240/24 "2007-09-07T15:41:15Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And when has the post-Saddam army ever been “revamped”? [/QUOTE] I hope you’re not talking about [this!](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070924/hayden) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-officers-iraqs-police-force-should-be-disbanded/418240.md?page=1)