Director of Reconstruction in Iraq L. Paul Bremer issued Order No. 2 on May 23, 2003. It “dissolved Iraqi ‘entities,’ including the Iraqi army and intelligence services. This order threw the entire Iraqi army–half a million men–out of work at a time when unemployment in Iraq was estimated at between 50 and 70 percent. With no jobs waiting for them and no way to provide for their families, many were believed to have taken their arms and joined the ranks of the insurgency.”
– Antonia Juhasz, The Bush Agenda, Page 201