Ministry Defense
The Ministry of Defense was combined with the Ministry of Military Industrialization to be called the Ministry of Defense and Military Industrialization, later changed to Ministry of National Security and Defense. It had both a civilian and military component. The civilian component is responsible for buying equipment and overall military funding. The military is responsible for manpower and liaisons. The Iraqi people run and lead their military with the purpose of defending Iraq.
The physical elements of the Ministry of National Security and Defense were stood up at Uday's Palace. The interim minister, Amb. Solcombe, arrived on May 15, 2003. Four key initial goals were:
- Standing up the physical components at Uday’s Palace. While the structure was badly damaged, the generator and pipes remained intact.
- Rebuilding the Ministry from the ground up by bringing thirty thousand Iraqi soldiers back to active duty.
- Paying these soldiers who haven’t been paid in over three months
- Start planning for the Iraqi Military International Conference in Tampa suggested for mid-June.
On 15 May 2003, the The Coalition Provisional Authority announced that the Ministry of Defense would be combined with the Ministry of Military Industrialization to be called the Ministry of Defense and Military Industrialization. It has both a civilian and military component. The civilian component is responsible for buying equipment and overall military funding. The military will be responsible for manpower and liaisons.
On 23 May 2003, the US civilian administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, abolished several ministries and institutions of Saddam Hussein's regime, and disbanded the Iraqi army, declaring them illegal.
The ministries of defense and information were among institutions being dissolved as well as the military and security courts, the Iraqi Olympic Committee, and the Republican Guard units. Bremer's office said that plans are afoot to create a new Iraq Corps as the first step toward forming "a national self-defense capability for a free Iraq." The statement said the corps would be "professional, nonpolitical, military effective and representative of all Iraqis." The move is aimed to get rid of Ba'athist influences in the military and security institutions. It followed the decision to abolish Hussein's Ba'ath party and order the dismissal of party officials from the civil service.
CPA Order Number 67, Ministry of Defence, promulgated on March 21, 2004, redesignated the New Iraqi Army as the Iraqi Armed Forces, established a new national ministry to provide civilian control of the Iraqi Armed Forces and supporting organizations, and provided for the eventual transfer of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps to the Ministry of Defence as a component of the Iraqi Armed Forces.
The new Ministry of Defence (MoD) was thereby established. The new MoD is a wholly distinct and separate entity from the organization with the same name that previously existed in Iraq and was dissolved by CPA Order Number 2. The MoD operated under the authority, direction, and control of the Administrator of the CPA pending transfer of full governance authority to the Iraqi Interim Government established in accordance with the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period. The Administrator, after consultation with the Governing Council, appointed an interim Minister of Defence. The interim Minister reported directly to the Administrator. The MoD consisted of the Ministry proper (including organizations for policy oversight, financial management and administration and logistics of the Iraqi Armed Forces), the Iraqi Armed Forces (IAF), and those members of the Facilities Protection Service (FPS) employed by the MoD for the defense of its installations.
On April 4, 2004, Coalition Administrator Paul Bremer announced that Ali Allawi would be the interim minister of defense. Iraq took an important step, establishing three national security agencies: the Ministry of Defense, the Ministerial Committee for National Security, and a new intelligence service. These agencies will be headed by civilians, with oversight by the National Assembly, and will cooperate closely to combat terrorists and insurgents.
