“After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans,” the Washington Post reports today — “restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers.
“But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O’Beirne’s office in the Pentagon.”
What happened to applicants in that office?
O’Beirne’s staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade.
