No big surprise here.

Mentioned earlier that Riverbend of Bagdad Burning blog had finally thrown in the towel and was leaving Iraq - something a lot of folks are doing if they have the means to get out. That includes physicians. So what is the government doing? "Iraq Reimposes Freeze on Medical Diplomas In Bid to Keep Doctors From Fleeing Abroad." Yup, the same thing Hussein did to keep MD's in tow. Yet another sign of progress for the American occupation.

Hussein built a fine medical system in part by withholding doctors' passports and diplomas. Although physicians can work in Iraq with a letter from a medical school verifying their graduation, they say they need certificates and transcripts to work abroad.

It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Electricity in Baghdad was more reliable; sectarian hostility was rare; Iraq was safe -- except for the many victims of Hussein's tyranny. But rarely has the government embraced a policy that so harshly evokes the era of dictatorship. To some students and doctors, the diploma decision, like Iraq's crumbling medical system, provides clear proof of the government's helplessness and the nation's decline.
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The Iraqi Medical Association, with which all physicians must register to practice, estimates that at least one-third of the country's 40,000 or so doctors have fled to Jordan, Syria and other countries.
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Only about 25 percent of students are able to attend classes daily, Araji said. The rest, kept away by explosions and gunfire and roadblocks, use lecture notes to study at home and show up only for exams.
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"Let's put it right: What was happening in Saddam's time was better than what is happening now," said the official, who said he did not want his name published out of fear for his life. "There was order. There was discipline. This we are losing."

But not to worry - GW's surge will take care of this little problem.