“On May 16 [2003], a week after [Coalition Provisional Authority leader L. Paul] Bremer arrived [in Iraq], he signed Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 1, which was designed to extinguish the Baath Party and Baathists from Iraqi government and society. …Excising Baathists hollowed out the entire Iraqi civil service and professional control over the ministries. The intent of the OSD [Office of the Secretary of Defense] had been to open all key ministerial positions to people blessed by [Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad] Chalabi and the other external opposition groups vying for power.”
– Charles Duelfer, Hide and Seek, Page 309