http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193_2.html

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq

To recruit the people he wanted, O'Beirne sought résumés from the offices
of Republican congressmen, conservative think tanks and GOP activists. He
discarded applications from those his staff deemed ideologically suspect,
even if the applicants possessed Arabic language skills or postwar
rebuilding experience.

Smith said O'Beirne once pointed to a young man's résumé and pronounced him
"an ideal candidate." His chief qualification was that he had worked for
the Republican Party in Florida during the presidential election recount in
2000
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