ABC: Pentagon rejected qualified experts for reconstruction work in Iraq - deemed not loyal Repubs

[sabra]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/02/republicans_onl.html

Republicans Only Need Apply?

The Pentagon rejected qualified experts for reconstruction work in Iraq because they were not deemed loyal to the Republican party, according to the former chief of staff of the Washington Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Frederick Smith.

"Some people were overlooked because they didn't meet the political saliva test," Smith, now retired, told ABC News.

Smith said political appointees at the Pentagon, including a special assistant to the secretary of defense and White House liaison, James O'Beirne, led the screening.

"We needed to get the best people out there," Smith said, "not just because they were a member of the Young Republicans Club at Michigan State."

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is now investigating the role of O'Beirne and allegations of what Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called "an organized and systematic screening process."

...

"We did not send our A-team to Baghdad," Smith said, recounting how O'Beirne pushed for a candidate based on the fact that he had been involved in counting chads during the presidential election recount in Florida in 2000.

Smith says he attempted to talk to O'Beirne about changing his hiring policies, but "that fell on deaf ears," he said.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. No kidding. Read 'Imperial Life in the Emerald City' to really understand how

badly we screwed up everything because of the political loyalty test.

[Bandit]

2. This truly is Republican incompetence

How can government be run successfully by those that abhor government?

[sabra]

4. yep, this is not a new revelation... nice to see the MSM pick it up though

[Nickster]

6. Great book. It completely explains how this litmus test messed things up. n/t

[htuttle]

3. Of course -- just the Mafia only hires their own Wise Guys

You gotta problem wit dat?

[KoKo]

5. Pity they left out O'Beirne's wife Kate who is Commentator for MSNBC

but it's a good Blog Post for Whore ABC.

[KittyWampus]

7. And the comparisons to Soviets just keep piling up