“The policies on de-Ba’athification, promulgated in [Director of Reconstruction in Iraq L. Paul] Bremer’s first act as Administrator, his CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] Order 1, issued on 16 May, 2003 and entitled ‘De-Ba’athification of Iraqi Society,’ angered large numbers of people. The Order called for the implementation of the previous CPA decision to disestablish the Ba’ath Party. It removed the four top echelons of the membership of the Party from all government posts and banned their future employment in the public sector. …All in all, about 30,000 people would be directly included in the de-Ba’athification Order.”
– Ali A. Allawi, The Occupation of Iraq, Page 150