de-Baathification

English

Alternative forms

• de-Ba'thification, de-Baʻthification (stricter transliterations)
• de-Ba'athification, deba'athification, de-Bathification, debathification (nonstandard, proscribed transliterations)

Etymology

From de- +‎ Baath +‎ -ification. Modeled on denazification, a similar concept employed against the conquered Nazi government following the Second World War.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

de-Baathification (uncountable)

1. The policy of removing Baath party members from Iraqi government positions following the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
   • 2006, Anthony Shadid, Night draws near: Iraq's people in the shadow of America's war, page 322:

     From informing the Bush administration that Iraqis would welcome U.S. troops with flowers to urging a methodical and comprehensive de-Baathification program under which tens of thousands of people lost their jobs through guilt by association, she said, the errors in the exiles' counsel only mounted and multiplied.

   • 2014 January 4, Marina Ottaway, “Analysis: Anbar violence goes beyond sectarian conflict in Iraq”, in BBC News:

     Mr Maliki has worsened the situation by allowing and encouraging purges of Iraqi politicians in the name of de-Baathification and largely discontinuing the US-initiated policy of working with Sunni tribal leaders and their militias - the so-called Sons of Iraq - to isolate al-Qaeda.