Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The United States says it's ready to let former members of Saddam Hussein's party get back into the public sector. But an Iraqi Governing Council member is questioning that move and warning against taking it further.

Ahmed Chalabi says letting former Baath Party members into the interim government "would be the same as Nazis taking part in a German government."

The U.S. announcement doesn't apply to the caretaker government that will take power after June 30. It will allow thousands of former Baathists to return to positions in the military and at schools and universities.

The announcement amounts to an admission by the United States that it goofed by removing party members from jobs, creating widespread unemployment and depriving the nation of experts in many areas.

The United States says former Baathists with "blood on their hands" won't get their jobs back.