of Defense in a very critical time, while sectarianism was in its peak and the Iraqi Army was still not ready and in a rebuilding process. Alongside this, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense was suffering from corruption, which was almost out of control. Thus, he started to change the system of the defense ministry that was established in 2004. That system was the main reason of corruption in the Ministry, giving authority to civilian employees, who don't have any military background, and delegating their powers over Iraqi military officers, which affected their efforts to enforce security in the country. Thus, he started to redo the system by reworking with the same system used by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense since its establishment in 1921 until 2003. Thus, he is responsible for the proper establishment of the Iraqi Ministry of Defence after 2003 and had spent enormous efforts to restore the prestige of the Iraqi Army. In March 2007, he said that "corruption and militias inhabit the halls" of the Defense Ministry, "fictitious employees" were "rampant" and that he is pressured to restructure his ministry along the lines of power-sharing deals. In October 2008 he announced that all soldiers and other employees of the Ministry would be forbidden from joining any political party, running for political office, working on any political campaign or even attending political demonstrations. Until December 2009, he was known as an independent minister and most of the political parties were not able to prove his political leanings. However, he was banned from the 2010 Iraqi elections over alleged links with the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which were possibly fabricated. References 1.Key Iraq ministers get approval, BBC News, 8 June 2006 2.A Glance at Iraq's new security ministers, Associated Press, 8 June 2006 3. USG Open Source Center Profile 4 Iraq Papers Thur: Defense Minister Speaks Out, Zaman via IraqSlogger, 2007-03-21, accessed on 2007-04-17 5. 6. External links Government ministers of Iraq People from Baghdad Iraqi generals Iraqi soldiers Iraqi Sunni Muslims Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians 1947 births Living people Recipients of the National Order of Faithful Service