TRYING TO CHANGE THE CULTURE

But corruption is ingrained in the system.

Officials at all levels of the nascent government are scrambling to do this, with the occupation authority coordinating with the Iraqi Governing Council to create a committee to combat government corruption. Still, officials with both agencies offer few specifics about what the body will do.

Specialists say it will take years to cleanse Iraqi society of its culture of corruption. As an example, Habib, the political scientist, recounted a recent conversation with an Iraqi police officer whose job was to impound weapons. The officer, who had made a pittance under Hussein, was allowing people to keep their firearms for a modest payment. Habib chastised him, noting that Americans have increased public-sector pay tenfold to remove one of the major motivations for graft.

"Why are you doing this?" Habib asked the policeman. The officer's answer: "I used to do this, and now I can't stop it."