Death Penalty to Return?

The new Iraqi ministry of the interior (analogous to Homeland Security in the US) is pressing for the reinstatement of the death penalty in Iraq. Iyad Alawi and other ex-Baath officers have taken over this ministry, and have begun reconstituting the secret police. Apparently they want back the power to put someone up against the wall and shoot him, as well. The creeping re-baathization of the ministry of the interior is one reason the French are right that we need quick new elections in Iraq. Alawi couldn't get elected to save his life. But if the Interim Governing Council is left in place for another year, he won't have to be elected; he will own the place. (Alawi broke with Saddam around 1990 and has been thick with the CIA during the past decade). (al-Sharq al-Awsat, Saturday)