Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region
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National Union Front (until 1958)[39] | ||
Council of Representatives | 0 / 329 (0%) | |
Most MPs (1989) | 207 / 250 (83%) | |
Party flag | ||
Website | ||
Statements of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party | ||
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region (
History
Early years and 14 July Revolution: 1951–1958
The Iraqi Regional Branch of the Ba'ath Party was established in 1951
The Iraqi Regional Branch was Arab nationalist and vague in its socialist orientation.[44] Al-Rikabi, expelled from the party in 1961 for being a Nasserist,[45] was an early follower of Michel Aflaq, the founder of Ba'athism.[46] During the party's early days, members discussed topics regarding Arab nationalism, the social inequalities that had grown out of the British "Tribal Criminal and Civil Disputes Regulation", and the Iraqi Parliament's Law 28 of 1932 "Governing the Rights and Duties of Cultivators".[40] By 1953, the party, led by al-Rikabi, was engaged in subversive activities against the government.[47]
The party initially consisted of a majority of Shia Muslims, as al-Rikabi primarily recruited his friends and family, but it slowly became Sunni-dominated.[48] The Ba'ath Party, and others of pan-Arab orientation, found it increasingly difficult to recruit Shia members within the party organisation. Most Shias saw pan-Arab as largely Sunni, since most Arabs are Sunni. As a result, more Shias joined the Iraqi Communist Party than the Ba'ath Party.[49] In the mid-1950s, eight of 17 members of the Ba'ath leadership were Shia.[49]
According to Talib El-Shibib, the Ba'ath foreign minister in the Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr government, the sectarian background of the leading Ba'ath members was considered of little importance because most Ba'athists did not know each other's sectarian denominations.[49] Between 1952 and 1963, 54% of the members of the Ba'ath Regional Command were Shia Muslims, largely because of al-Rikabi's effective recruitment drive in Shia areas. Between 1963 and 1970, after al-Rikabi's resignation, Shia representation in the Regional Command had fallen to 14 percent. However, of the three factions within the Ba'ath Party, two out of three faction leaders were Shia.[50]
By the end of 1951, the party had at least 50 members.
Qasim's Iraq: 1958–1963
Qasim, reluctant to tie himself too closely to Nasser's Egypt, sided with various groups within Iraq (notably the
Qasim's policies angered several pan-Arab organisations, including the Ba'ath Party, which later began plotting to assassinate Qasim at Al-Rashid Street on 7 October 1959 and take power. One assassin was to kill those sitting in the back of the car, the rest would kill those in front. Abdul Karim al-Shaikhly, the leader of the assassination plot, recruited a young Saddam Hussein to join the conspiracy after one of the would-be assassins left.[58] During the ambush, Saddam (who was only supposed to provide cover) began shooting prematurely, which disorganised the whole operation. Qasim's chauffeur was killed and Qasim was hit in the arm and shoulder. The assassins thought they had killed him and quickly retreated to their headquarters, but Qasim survived.[58]
At the time of the attack, the Ba'ath Party had less than 1,000 members,[64] however the failed assassination attempt led to widespread exposure for Saddam and the Ba'ath within Iraq, where both had previously languished in obscurity, and later became a crucial part of Saddam's public image during his tenure as president of Iraq.[61][65][66] The Iraqi government arrested some members of the operation and took them into custody. At the show trial, six of the defendants were sentenced to death and, for unknown reasons, the sentences were not carried out. Aflaq, the leader of the Ba'athist movement, organised the expulsion of leading Iraqi Ba'athist members, such as Fuad al-Rikabi, on the grounds that the party should not have initiated the attempt on Qasim's life. At the same time, Aflaq secured seats in the Iraqi Ba'ath leadership for his supporters, including Saddam.[67]
In 1962, both the Ba'ath Party and the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began plotting to overthrow Qasim.[68][69] On 8 February 1963, Qasim was finally overthrown by the Ba'athists in the Ramadan Revolution; long suspected to be supported by the CIA,[70][71] however pertinent contemporary documents relating to the CIA's operations in Iraq have remained classified by the U.S. government,[72][73] although the Iraqi Ba'athists are documented to have maintained supportive relationships with U.S. officials before, during, and after the coup.[74][75] Several army units refused to support the Ba'athist coup. The fighting lasted for two days,[76] during which 1,500–5,000 were killed.[77] Qasim was captured on 9 February and, an hour later, was killed by firing squad. To assure the Iraqi public that Qasim was dead, as well as to terrorize his supporters, the Ba'athists broadcast a five minute long propaganda video called The End of the Criminals of Qasim's corpse being desecrated.[78][76] Upon the Ba'athist ascension to power, Saddam would return to Iraq after spending nearly three years living in exile, becoming a key organizer within the Ba'ath Party's civilian wing.[79]
In its ascension to power, the Ba'athists "methodically hunted down Communists" thanks to "mimeographed lists [...] complete with home addresses and auto license plate numbers,"[75][80] and while it is unlikely that the Ba'athists would've needed assistance in identifying Iraqi communists,[81][82] it is widely believed that the CIA provided the Ba'athist National Guard with lists of communists and other leftists, who were then arrested or killed.[83] Gibson emphasizes that the Ba'athists compiled their own lists, citing Bureau of Intelligence and Research reports.[84] On the other hand, historians Nathan Citino and Brandon Wolfe-Hunnicutt consider the assertions plausible because the U.S. embassy in Iraq had actually compiled such lists, were known to be in contact with the National Guard during the purge, and because National Guard members involved in the purge received training in the U.S.[82][85] Furthermore, Wolfe-Hunnicutt, citing contemporary U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, notes that the assertions "would be consistent with American special warfare doctrine" regarding U.S. covert support to anti-communist "Hunter-Killer" teams "seeking the violent overthrow of a communist dominated and supported government",[86] and draws parallels to other CIA operations in which lists of suspected communists were compiled, such as Guatemala in 1954 and Indonesia in 1965–66.[87]
In power: February–September 1963
Abdul Salam Arif became the president of Iraq and Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became prime minister after taking power in February 1963.[77] Ali Salih al-Sa'di, secretary-general of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, became deputy prime minister and Minister of Interior – a post he lost on 11 May. Despite not being prime minister, al-Sadi had effective control over the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. Seven out of nine members supported his leadership in the party's Regional Command.[88]
According to Coughlin, in the aftermath of the coup, the
The party was ousted from government in November 1963, due to factionalism. The question within the Ba'ath Party was whether or not it would pursue its ideological goal of establishing a union with Syria, Egypt or both. Al-Sadi supported a union with Syria, which was ruled by the Ba'ath Party, while the more conservative military wing supported Qasim's "Iraq first policy".[90] Factionalism and the ill-disciplined behaviour of the National Guard led the military wing to initiate a coup against the party's leadership. Al-Sadi was forced into exile in Spain.
Al-Bakr, in an attempt to save the party, called for a meeting of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party. The meeting exacerbated the party's problems. Aflaq, who saw himself as the leader of the pan-Arab Ba'athist movement, declared his intent to take control of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. The "Iraq first" wing was outraged. President Arif lost patience with the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, and the party was ousted from government on 18 November 1963.[91] The 12 Ba'ath members of the government were forced to resign, and the National Guard was dissolved and replaced with the Republican Guard.[92] Some authorities believe that Aflaq supported Arif's coup against the Ba'athist government in order to weaken al-Sadi's position within the party and strengthen his own.[93]
Union talks with Syria
At the time of al-Sadi's removal from the post of Interior Minister, factionalism and discontent were growing within the party. al-Sadi and Mundur al-Windawi, the leader of the Ba'ath Party's National Guard, led the civilian wing. President Arif led the military wing and Talib El-Shibib led the pro-Aflaq wing.[88] However, a bigger schism was underway in the international Ba'athist movement. Four major factions were being created: the Old Guard led by Aflaq; a civilian alliance between the secretary-generals of the Regional Commands of Syria and Iraq, led by Hammud al-Shufi and al-Sadi respectively; the Syrian Ba'ath Military Committee, represented by Salah Jadid, Muhammad Umran, Hafez al-Assad, Salim Hatum and Amin al-Hafiz; and the Iraqi military wing, which supported Arif's presidency, represented by al-Bakr, Salih Mahdi Ammash, Tahir Yahya and Hardan Tikriti. The military wings in Syria and Iraq opposed the creation of a pan-Arab state, whereas al-Shufi and al-Sadi supported it. Aflaq officially supported it, but privately opposed it because he was afraid al-Sadi would challenge his position as secretary-general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party, the leader of the international Ba'athist movement.[94]
Bilateral union
Both Syria and Iraq were under Ba'athist rule in 1963. When President Arif visited Syria on a state visit, Sami al-Jundi, a Syrian cabinet minister, proposed the creation of a bilateral union between the two countries. Both Arif and Amin al-Hafiz, President of Syria, supported the idea. al-Jundi was given the task of setting up a committee to begin establishing the union. al-Jundi selected al-Sadi as Iraq's chief representative in the committee in a bid to strengthen al-Sadi's position within the Ba'ath Party.
Work on the union continued with the signing of the Military Unity Charter which established the Higher Military Council, an organ which oversaw the integration and control over the Syrian and Iraqi military. Ammash, the Iraqi Minister of Defence, became the chairman of the Higher Military Council. The unified headquarters was in Syria. The establishment of the military union became evident on 20 October 1963, when Syrian soldiers were found fighting alongside the Iraqi military in Iraqi Kurdistan.[95] At this stage, both Iraqi and Syrian Ba'athists feared excluding Nasser from the union talks since he had a large following.[96]
The Syrian state and its Ba'ath Party criticised the fall of al-Bakr's first government but relented when they discovered that some members of the Iraqi cabinet were Ba'ath Party members. However, the remaining Ba'athists were slowly removed from office. The Syrian Revolutionary Command Council responded by abrogating the Military Unity Charter on 26 April 1964, ending the bilateral unification process between Iraq and Syria.[93]
Underground: 1963–1968
In the aftermath of the coup-led against the Ba'ath Party, al-Bakr became the party's dominant driving force and was elected secretary-general of the Regional Command in 1964. Saddam Hussein received full party membership and a seat in the Regional Command of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party because he was a close protege of al-Bakr.[92] With al-Bakr's consent, Hussein initiated a drive to improve the party's internal security. In 1964, Hussein established the Jihaz Haneen, the party's secretive security apparatus, to act as a counterweight to the military officers in the party and to weaken the military's hold on the party.[97]
Ba'athist Iraq: 1968–2003
In contrast to the coup of 1963, the 1968 coup was led by civilian Ba'ath Party members. According to historian Con Coughlin, the President of Iraq
On 16 July 1968, al-Naif and Daud were summoned to the Presidential Palace by Arif, who asked them if they knew of an imminent coup against him. Both al-Naif and Daud denied knowledge of any coup. However, when the Ba'ath Party leadership obtained this information, they quickly convened a meeting at al-Bakr's house. The coup had to be initiated as quickly as possible, even if they had to concede to give al-Naif and Daud the posts of Prime Minister and Defence Minister, respectively. Hussein said at the meeting, "I am aware that the two officers have been imposed on us and that they want to stab the party in the back in the service of some interest or other, but we have no choice. We should collaborate with them and liquidate immediately during, or after, the revolution. And I volunteer to carry out the task".[98]
The
At the time of the 1968 coup, only 5,000 people were members;
Several major infrastructures were laid down to assist the country's growth,
2003 invasion and new Iraqi government
Downfall and de-Ba'athification
At the time of Saddam's fall in April 2003, the Ba'ath Party had 1.5 million members.
Under the Ba'ath Party, one could not reach high positions in the government or in schools without becoming a party member. Membership was also a prerequisite for university admission. While many Ba'athists joined for ideological reasons, many more joined as a way to improve their options. After much pressure by the U.S., the policy of de-Ba'athification was addressed by the Iraqi government in January 2008 in the highly controversial "Accountability and Justice Act," which was supposed to ease the policy, but which many feared would lead to further dismissals.[112]
The new Constitution of Iraq, approved by a referendum on 15 October 2005, reaffirmed the Ba'ath Party ban, stating that "No entity or program, under any name, may adopt racism, terrorism, the calling of others infidels, ethnic cleansing, or incite, facilitate, glorify, promote, or justify thereto, especially the Saddamist Ba'ath in Iraq and its symbols, regardless of the name that it adopts. This may not be part of the political pluralism in Iraq."
Some or many of its members in the Iraqi Ba'ath Party who were purged and dismissed went on to join
Saddam's death and party split: 2006–present
On 31 December 2006, one day after
According to Abu Muhammad, a Ba'ath Party spokesman from al-Douri's faction, on the eve of Saddam's death, "Comrade Izzat has been leading the [Ba'ath] party's political and resistance factions since 2003, but it is a matter of protocol and internal regulation to appoint him officially as the party's secretary-general."[114] Al-Douri was elected the party's secretary-general in early January.[114]
Despite al-Douri's succession, another high ranking Ba'athist,
al-Ahmed's Ba'ath Party is based in Syria.[115] It is believed to contain most of the remaining leading party figures who were not arrested or executed,[115] including Mezher Motni Awad, To'ma Di'aiyef Getan, Jabbar Haddoosh, Sajer Zubair, and Nihad alDulaimi.[115] In contrast to al-Douri's group, al-Ahmad's faction has had success in recruiting Shi'as to the party.[115] While al-Ahmed and the faction's senior leaders are Sunnis, there are many Shiites who are working in the organization's middle level.[115] Upon his election as leader, an al-Ahmed's faction statement said he was "of Shia origins and coming from Shia areas in Nineveh governorate".[116] In contrast to al-Ahmed, al-Douri has stuck to a more conservative policy, recruiting members from a largely Sunni-dominated areas.[115]
It could be said that al-Ahmed has returned to the Ba'ath Party's original ideology of secular pan-Arab nationalism which, in many cases, has proven successful in Iraq's Shi'a dominated southern provinces.[115] However, despite his attempts, al-Ahmed has failed in his goal to overthrow al-Douri.[115] Al-Douri's faction is the largest and the most active on the Internet, and the large majority of Ba'athist websites are aligned to al-Douri.[115] Another failure is that al-Ahmed's faction, which is based in Syria, does not have exclusive Syrian support[115] and, considering that it is based in Syria, the party is susceptible to Syrian interference in its affairs.[115] However, despite the differences between the al-Douri and al-Ahmed factions, both of them adhere to Ba'athist thought.[115]
On 2 January 2012, the Organizations of Central Euphrates and the South (OCES), believed to be headed by Hamed Manfi al-Karafi, issued a statement condemning sectarianism within the party, specifically criticizing al-Douri's faction.[116] The OCES condemned the leadership's decision of creating a primary Sunni leadership and a reserve Shiite leadership.[116]
This decision by the al-Douri faction leadership was a response to complaints by Ba'athist organizations in Shiite-dominated areas on what they considered policy errors which led to marginalization and exclusion of Shiite members.[116] The OCES rejected the decision, and considered them illegitimate.[116] In its statement, the OCES stated that "the failure to implement [its] decisions is considered a rebellion against legitimate authority [...]" and "a conscious and explicit threat, and an attempt to impose a bitter reality through decisions that are tainted by sectarian and regional motivations."[116] In its ending remarks, the OCES statement read "any connection or link with any member of the Iraqi branch leadership locally or abroad, while continuing organizational activities according to the Organizations of Central Euphrates and the South leadership's decisions that were reached last year based on prior understandings with the national leadership".[116] Despite breaking with al-Douri's faction, al-Karafi's faction has not aligned itself with either al-Ahmed's faction or Resurrection and Renewal Movement, a third Ba'athist group.[116]
al-Douri has been considered more of a symbol, but he doesn't actually hold that much power over the party. In a discussion with the American embassy in Amman, Jordan, in 2007, retired Lieutenant General Khalid al-Jibouri stated that he believed "a powerful shadow group of personnel [was] behind him who really constitute the operational leadership of his faction". He further noted that the party was modernizing, in the sense that it recognized it would be impossible to return to power alone, while, at the same time, it returned to its old, Ba'athist ideological roots. In another note, al-Jibouri noted that the Ba'ath Party had become a major enemy of
In the wake of
In July 2012, the Ba'ath Party published a videotaped speech of al-Douri, in which he condemned the existing government and American interference in Iraq.[119] However, in a change of tone, al-Douri stated he wished to establish good relations with the United States when the American forces had been withdrawn and when the government had been toppled.[119] As of 2013, it has been reported that al-Douri is living in the city of Mosul, having left Syria because of the ongoing civil war.[120] Many analysts are afraid that the Ba'ath Party has the potential power to initiate another civil war in Iraq because of al-Douri's popularity in localities with Sunni majorities.[120]
Organization and structure
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (June 2020) |
Regional (central) level
The Regional Command (RC) (
- Congresses held
|
|
The Ba'ath Party had its own
The head of the secretariat was the deputy director, who was the second in the order of precedence. The office of director of the secretariat was the leading organ within the body. The secretariat had 11 departments: the Military and Armaments Department, Vocational Schools Department, Courses Department, Finance Department, Organisational and Political Department, Party Affairs and Information Department, Personnel and Administrative Department, Technical Department, Information and Studies Department, Legal Department and the Audit Department. The only non-department under the direct responsibility of the secretariat was the Saddam Institute for the Study of the Qur'an.[127]
The functions and responsibilities of the secretariat were drawn up in a detailed manner. The Office of the President issued a directive to formulate its hierarchy, and the functions of the sections and departments were clearly defined.[126] The secretariat encompassed all party branches. This system led to the bureaucratisation of the party, and decision-making was often cumbersome and inefficient. This inefficiency meant that Saddam could govern without fearing any rivals.[121]
The Department for Organisational and Political Affairs (DOPA) was the most important department of the secretariat. It prepared material for discussion that the
Lower levels
Below the Regional Command were the bureau structures (
Security functions
Nationally, the Ba'ath Party functioned as an institution acting as the eyes and ears of the government. During its rule, the party gained influence over the military, the government bureaucracy, labour, professional unions and, not least, the building of the cult of personality of Saddam. From the 1990s until the fall of the Ba'ath Party in 2003, it became involved in the handling of food distribution, the pursuing and apprehension of military deserters and, by the end,[130] it was responsible for the preparations for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Branches and sections enjoyed powers similar to those of the police in the West. Outside of Baghdad, they were "legally authorised to incarcerate suspects using Extrajudicial procedures".[131]
One of the party's most important functions was gathering information about its opponents. In
Management
Part of a series on |
Ba'athism |
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Discipline
The Ba'ath Party instilled party discipline in its members. According to a statement in the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), "Party members are expected to inspire others by their exemplary behavior, sense of discipline, political consciousness, and willingness to sacrifice themselves in the interests of the Party and state."[134] Saddam was a great believer in discipline, and believed that lack of discipline and organisation were behind any failure. In accordance with this view, the party issued a myriad of rules and regulations to combat laziness, corruption and abuses of power. Members found breaching the party code were either demoted or expelled from the party.[135]
Finances
The Ba'ath Party was supported financially by the RCC, the highest executive and legislative body of government. Members were required to pays fees commensurate with their ranks. For instance, a supporting member would pay 25 Iraqi dinar for membership, while a branch member would pay 3,000 Iraqi dinars. Fees were important in the party's balance sheet. The central party leadership often emphasised the importance of members' financial abilities. The leadership encouraged members to contribute more to party finances.[136] According to Jawad Hashim, a former Minister of Planning and the RCC Economic Advisor, Saddam gave the Ba'ath Party the five percent of Iraqi oil revenues, which were previously owned by the Gulbenkin Foundation. Saddam's reasoning was that, if a counter-coup took place and the Ba'ath Party was forced from power, as had been the case in November 1963, the party needed financial security so that it could reclaim power.[136] By Hasim's estimates, the Ba'ath Party had accumulated US$10 billion in external revenues by 1989.[134]
Membership
When the party came to power in 1968 in the 17 July Revolution, it was determined to increase party membership so that it could compete with ideological opponents such as the Iraqi Communist Party. Saddam had a clear plan, and on 25 February 1976 he said, "It should be our ambition to make all Iraqis in the country Ba'athists in membership and belief or in the latter only."[137] This is contrary to his statements in the 1990s, when increasing membership was more important than recruiting members who adhered to Ba'athist ideology.[138]
Like most parties, the Ba'ath membership was organised in a hierarchical manner. The head of a branch, division or section was the secretary-general, who was responsible to the secretariat. At the bottom was sympathiser, a member seeking to climb the party ranks with the status of active members, which could take five to 10 years. In certain provinces, "national activity" was the status given to the lowest level of the hierarchy. Where this level existed, it could take two to three years to climb up to the rank of sympathiser.[138] The report to the 10th National Congress stated that "It is not sufficient for a member just to believe in the idea of the party, but what is required is total commitment and not simply a political affiliation."[139]
Electoral history
Presidential elections
Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Saddam Hussein | 8,348,700 | 99.99% | Elected |
2002 | 11,445,638 | 100% | Elected |
National Assembly elections
Election | Party leader | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | Saddam Hussein | 187 / 250
|
187 |
1984 | 183 / 250
|
4 | |
1989 | 207 / 250
|
24 | |
1996 | 161 / 250
|
46 | |
2000 | 165 / 250
|
4 | |
January 2005 | Banned | ||
December 2005 | |||
2010 | Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri | ||
2014 | |||
2018 | |||
2021 | Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed |
See also
References
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Following two more coups in 1963 and 1968, the Baath Party, a socialist Pan-Arab political party with branches in neighboring Syria and other Arab states, established itself in power. The Baath Party was to rule Iraq for the next 35 years, for 24 of those years under President Saddam Hussein... A dominant feature of the Baath Party's ideology in Iraq was its secularism. This is a feature it shared with other Pan-Arab groups. In general, the Pan-Arab movement wanted to create secular, socialist states for Arabs in which infighting between religious sects would not occur.
- ^ "Attacks draw mixed response in Mideast". CNN. 12 September 2001. Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
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- Baram, Amatzia (October 2011). "From Militant Secularism to Islamism: The Iraqi Ba'th Regime 1968-2003" (PDF). Occasional Papers. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: History & Public Policy Program. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2015.
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Throughout the 1990s, it appears that Iraqi society became more religious, more sectarian, and more prone toward Islamism, Salafism, and other militant ideologies.
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- ^
- Alekseĭ Mikhaĭlovich Vasilʹev, Alexei Vassiliev (1993). Russian Policy in the Middle East: From Messianism to Pragmatism. p. 63. ISBN 978-0863721687.
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- Alekseĭ Mikhaĭlovich Vasilʹev, Alexei Vassiliev (1993). Russian Policy in the Middle East: From Messianism to Pragmatism. p. 63.
- ^
- Coughlin, Con (2005). Saddam: His Rise and Fall. ISBN 0-06-050543-5.
- A. I. Dawisha, (1976). Egypt in the Arab World: The Elements of Foreign Policy. American Political Science Review. ISBN 978-0333191958.
- Blamires, Cyprian; Jackson, Paul (2006). World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 82-84. ISBN 978-1576079409.
- Alan John Day, ed. (1983). Political Dissent An International Guide to Dissident, Extra-parliamentary, Guerrilla, and Illegal Political Movements. ISBN 9780810320505.
- Coughlin, Con (2005). Saddam: His Rise and Fall.
- Arabic: وحدة، حرية، اشتراكية, romanized: Wahda, Hurriyah, Ishtirakiyah
- ISBN 978-0-19-511439-3.
- Arabic: شعلة البعث صباحي, romanized: shuelat albaeth sabahi
- ^ * Ghareeb, Edmund A.; Dougherty, Beth K. Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Lanham, Maryland and Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, Ltd., 2004. pp. 170-171.
- Al-Qaisy (2019). "National Union Front and the fall of the monarchy". Al-Mada. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ a b Polk 2006, p. 109.
- ^ Ghareeb & Dougherty 2004, p. 194.
- ^ Metz, Helen Chapin. "Iraq – Politics: The Baath Party". Library of Congress Country Studies. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ^ Sheffer & Ma'oz 2002, p. 174.
- ^ Tripp 2002, p. 143.
- ^ Davies 2005, p. 200.
- ^ Davies 2005, p. 320.
- ^ Patterson 2010, p. 229.
- ^ Nakash 2003, p. 136.
- ^ a b c Dawisha 2005, p. 174.
- ^ Sheffer & Ma'oz 2002, pp. 174–175.
- ^ Tucker 2008, p. 185.
- ^ Dawisha 2005, p. 224.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 22.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, pp. 24–25.
- ISBN 978-0857717641.
- ISBN 978-0312160524.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, pp. 25–26.
- ^ a b Coughlin 2005, p. 29.
- ^ Sale, Richard (10 April 2003). "Exclusive: Saddam Key in Early CIA Plot". United Press International. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ISBN 9781134036721.
The documentary record is filled with holes. A remarkable volume of material remains classified, and those records that are available are obscured by redactions – large blacked-out sections that allow for plausible deniability. While it is difficult to know exactly what actions were taken to destabilize or overthrow Qasim's regime, we can discern fairly clearly what was on the planning table. We also can see clues as to what was authorized.
- ^ ISBN 9781134036721.
- ISBN 978-1-137-48711-7.
- ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 30.
- ISBN 978-0-8021-3978-8.
- ISBN 978-0-520-92124-5.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 34.
- ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
- ISBN 978-1-137-48711-7.
- ^ For sources that agree or sympathize with assertions of U.S. involvement, see:
- Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon; Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) (20 July 2018). "Essential Readings: The United States and Iraq before Saddam Hussein's Rule". Jadaliyya.
CIA involvement in the 1963 coup that first brought the Ba'th to power in Iraq has been an open secret for decades. American government and media have never been asked to fully account for the CIA's role in the coup. On the contrary, the US government has put forward and official narrative riddled with holes–redactions that cannot be declassified for "national security" reasons.
- Citino, Nathan J. (2017). "The People's Court". Envisioning the Arab Future: Modernization in US-Arab Relations, 1945–1967. ISBN 978-1-108-10755-6.
Washington backed the movement by military officers linked to the pan-Arab Ba'th Party that overthrew Qasim in a coup on February 8, 1963.
- Jacobsen, E. (1 November 2013). "A Coincidence of Interests: Kennedy, U.S. Assistance, and the 1963 Iraqi Ba'th Regime". Diplomatic History. 37 (5): 1029–1059. ISSN 0145-2096.
There is ample evidence that the CIA not only had contacts with the Iraqi Ba'th in the early sixties, but also assisted in the planning of the coup.
- Ismael, Tareq Y.; Ismael, Jacqueline S.; Perry, Glenn E. (2016). Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East: Continuity and Change (2nd ed.). ISBN 978-1-317-66282-2.
Ba'thist forces and army officers overthrew Qasim on February 8, 1963, in collaboration with the CIA.
- Little, Douglas (14 October 2004). "Mission Impossible: The CIA and the Cult of Covert Action in the Middle East". Diplomatic History. 28 (5): 663–701. ISSN 1467-7709.
Such self-serving denials notwithstanding, the CIA actually appears to have had a great deal to do with the bloody Ba'athist coup that toppled Qassim in February 1963. Deeply troubled by Qassim's steady drift to the left, by his threats to invade Kuwait, and by his attempt to cancel Western oil concessions, U.S. intelligence made contact with anticommunist Ba'ath activists both inside and outside the Iraqi army during the early 1960s.
- Osgood, Kenneth (2009). "Eisenhower and regime change in Iraq: the United States and the Iraqi Revolution of 1958". America and Iraq: Policy-making, Intervention and Regional Politics. ISBN 9781134036721.
Working with Nasser, the Ba'ath Party, and other opposition elements, including some in the Iraqi army, the CIA by 1963 was well positioned to help assemble the coalition that overthrew Qasim in February of that year. It is not clear whether Qasim's assassination, as Said Aburish has written, was 'one of the most elaborate CIA operations in the history of the Middle East.' That judgment remains to be proven. But the trail linking the CIA is suggestive.
- Sluglett, Peter. "The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq: A Study of Iraq's Old Landed and Commercial Classes and of its Communists, Ba'thists and Free Officers (Review)" (PDF). Democratiya. p. 9.
Batatu infers on pp. 985-86 that the CIA was involved in the coup of 1963 (which brought the Ba'ath briefly to power): Even if the evidence here is somewhat circumstantial, there can be no question about the Ba'ath's fervent anti-communism.
- Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (2021). The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq. Stanford University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
Weldon Matthews, Malik Mufti, Douglas Little, William Zeman, and Eric Jacobsen have all drawn on declassified American records to largely substantiate the plausibility of Batatu's account. Peter Hahn and Bryan Gibson (in separate works) argue that the available evidence does support the claim of CIA collusion with the Ba'th. However, each makes this argument in the course of a much broader study, and neither examines the question in any detail.
- Mitchel, Timothy (2002). Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity. ISBN 9780520928251.
Qasim was killed three years later in a coup welcomed and possibly aided by the CIA, which brought to power the Ba'ath, the party of Saddam Hussein.
- ISBN 9780307455628.
The agency finally backed a successful coup in Iraq in the name of American influence.
- Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon; Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) (20 July 2018). "Essential Readings: The United States and Iraq before Saddam Hussein's Rule". Jadaliyya.
- ^ For sources that dispute assertions of U.S. involvement, see:
- Gibson, Bryan R. (2015). Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War. ISBN 978-1-137-48711-7.
Barring the release of new information, the balance of evidence suggests that while the United States was actively plotting the overthrow of the Qasim regime, it did not appear to be directly involved in the February 1963 coup.
- Hahn, Peter (2011). Missions Accomplished?: The United States and Iraq Since World War I. ISBN 9780195333381.
Declassified U.S. government documents offer no evidence to support these suggestions.
- Barrett, Roby C. (2007). The Greater Middle East and the Cold War: US Foreign Policy Under Eisenhower and Kennedy. ISBN 9780857713087.
Washington wanted to see Qasim and his Communist supporters removed, but that is a far cry from Batatu's inference that the U.S. had somehow engineered the coup. The U.S. lacked the operational capability to organize and carry out the coup, but certainly after it had occurred the U.S. government preferred the Nasserists and Ba'athists in power, and provided encouragement and probably some peripheral assistance.
- West, Nigel (2017). Encyclopedia of Political Assassinations. ISBN 9781538102398.
Although Qasim was regarded as an adversary by the West, having nationalized the Iraq Petroleum Company, which had joint Anglo-American ownership, no plans had been made to depose him, principally because of the absence of a plausible successor. Nevertheless, the CIA pursued other schemes to prevent Iraq from coming under Soviet influence, and one such target was an unidentified colonel, thought to have been Qasim's cousin, the notorious Fadhil Abbas al-Mahdawi who was appointed military prosecutor to try members of the previous Hashemite monarchy.
- Gibson, Bryan R. (2015). Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War.
- ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
What really happened in Iraq in February 1963 remains shrouded behind a veil of official secrecy. Many of the most relevant documents remain classified. Others were destroyed. And still others were never created in the first place.
- S2CID 159490612.
Archival sources on the U.S. relationship with this regime are highly restricted. Many records of the Central Intelligence Agency's operations and the Department of Defense from this period remain classified, and some declassified records have not been transferred to the National Archives or cataloged.
- S2CID 159490612.
[Kennedy] Administration officials viewed the Iraqi Ba'th Party in 1963 as an agent of counterinsurgency directed against Iraqi communists, and they cultivated supportive relationships with Ba'thist officials, police commanders, and members of the Ba'th Party militia. The American relationship with militia members and senior police commanders had begun even before the February coup, and Ba'thist police commanders involved in the coup had been trained in the United States.
- ^ ISSN 0145-2096.
- ^ a b Coughlin 2005, p. 40.
- ^ a b c Coughlin 2005, p. 41.
- ISBN 978-1108107556.
- ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
- ISSN 0040-781X.
- ISBN 978-0863565205.
- ^ a b Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (March 2011). "The End of the Concessionary Regime: Oil and American Power in Iraq, 1958-1972" (PDF). pp. 84–85.
- ISBN 9780857713735.
Although individual leftists had been murdered intermittently over the previous years, the scale on which the killings and arrests took place in the spring and summer of 1963 indicates a closely coordinated campaign, and it is almost certain that those who carried out the raid on suspects' homes were working from lists supplied to them. Precisely how these lists had been compiled is a matter of conjecture, but it is certain that some of the Ba'th leaders were in touch with American intelligence networks, and it is also undeniable that a variety of different groups in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East had a strong vested interest in breaking what was probably the strongest and most popular communist party in the region.
- ISBN 978-1-137-48711-7.
- ISBN 978-1-108-10755-6.
- ^ Wolfe-Hunnicutt, Brandon (March 2011). "The End of the Concessionary Regime: Oil and American Power in Iraq, 1958-1972" (PDF). pp. 84–85.
One study from 1961 or 1962 included a section on "the capability of the U.S. Government to provide support to friendly groups, not in power, who are seeking the violent overthrow of a communist dominated and supported government." The study went on to discuss providing "covert assistance" to such groups and advised that, "Pinpointing of enemy concentrations and hideouts can permit effective use of 'Hunter‐Killer' teams." Given the Embassy's concern with the immediate suppression of Baghdad's sarifa population, it seems likely that American intelligence services would be interested in providing support to the Ba'thist "'Hunter‐Killer' teams."
- ISBN 978-1-5036-1382-9.
The CIA had long employed the method of targeted assassination in its global crusade against Communism. In 1954, a CIA team involved in the overthrow of Guatemalan leader Jacobo Arbenz compiled a veritable "Handbook of Assassination," replete with precise instructions for committing "political murder" and a list of suspected Guatemalan Communists to be targeted for "executive action." In the 1960s, the Kennedy administration made this rather ad hoc practice into a science. According to its special warfare doctrines, covertly armed and trained "Hunter-Killer teams" were a highly effective instrument in the root-and-branch eradication of Communist threats in developing nations. In what became known as the "Jakarta Method"—named for the systematic CIA-backed purge of Indonesian Communists in 1965—the CIA was involved in countless campaigns of mass murder in the name of anti-Communism.
- ^ a b Mufti 1996, p. 161.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 44.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 45.
- ^ a b Coughlin 2005, pp. 45–46.
- ^ a b Mufti 1996, p. 165.
- ^ Mufti 1996, p. 159.
- ^ Mufti 1996, p. 160.
- ^ Mufti 1996, pp. 160–161.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 48.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 55.
- ^ a b Coughlin 2005, p. 52.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 53.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 56.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 57.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 74.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 120.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 94.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 85.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 98.
- ^ a b Coughlin 2005, p. 106.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 150.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 107.
- ^ Coughlin 2005, p. 105.
- ^ Paley, Amit R.; Joshua Partlow (23 January 2008). "Iraq's New Law on Ex-Baathists Could Bring Another Purge". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
- ^ a b Staff writer (31 December 2006). "Fugitive Baathists Pledge Support to New Leader Izzat Ibrahim After Saddam Hussein's Execution". Fox News. Associated Press. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ a b Staff writer (5 January 2007). "Iraq's Baath party names new leader". Aljazeera. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Ali, Fadhil (5 January 2007). "Reviving the Iraqi Ba'ath: A Profile of General Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad". Jamestown. Vol. VII, no. 3. Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h al-Lami, Alaa (18 January 2012). "Sectarian Divisions Plague Iraqi Baath Party". Al Akhbar. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- Cablegate. 17 April 2007. Archived from the originalon 10 June 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d al-Lami, Alaa (1 November 2011). "Iraq's Rising Tide of Separatism Ahead of US Withdrawal". Al Akhbar. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ The Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ a b Freeman, Colin (18 May 2013). "Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri: the King of Clubs is back, and he may yet prove to be Saddam Hussein's trump card". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ^ a b c Sassoon 2012, p. 36.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 99.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 11.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Sassoon 2012, p. 35.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 285.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 37.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, pp. 37–38.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 38.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 39.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 40.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 42.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 43.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 41.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 45.
- ^ a b Sassoon 2012, p. 46.
- ^ Sassoon 2012, p. 47.
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