The Iraqi Parliament passed a bill on Saturday that would allow some former officials from Saddam Hussein’s party to fill government positions but would impose a strict ban on others. The legislation is the first of the major so-called political benchmark measures to pass after months of American pressure for progress.

According to the Times article, the law may or may not do much for various reasons. But leaving that aside, it shouldn’t be forgotten that de-Baathification was a key U.S. policy implemented by Paul Bremer’s CPA in May of 2003. Though President Bush nonchalantly claimed to not have supported this policy, it boggles the mind that (a) it took this damned long to force through, and (b) that this reversal of U.S. policy was set as some sort of a policy benchmark itself.

The story of Iraq is an intricate self-referential nightmare from which we just can’t wake up.