Ba'ath Party
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[edit] History
The basic theories of Ba'athism were outlined by Zaki al-Arsuzi, Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar after they were disgusted by the pro-imperialist policies of the French Communist Party. The primary tenets are the secular, socialized, single-party pan-Arabic State and anti-imperialism.
The most notable schism of this certain political creed is between the Iraqi Ba'athist and Syrian Ba'athist parties. From there proceeds a slew of ideological splinters, including Neo-Ba'athism, Assadism, Saddamism, and many other flavors. One uniting point for all these, however, has been support for the Palestinians. However, to what degree this support extends varies from regime to regime. It should also be emphasized that Ba'athist parties have also a long and contentious record with the PLO and other Palestinian political parties, so trying to even figure out who hates who more indadvertedly goes to show just how dis-united the whole region is.
[edit] Famous Leaders
- Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq
- Hafez al-Assad, former president of Syria
- Bashar al-Assad, son and successor to Hafez.
[edit] Support by western extremists
Both Iraq and Syria under the Ba'ath party have clashed with Israel and America. For those reasons, some western extremists have expressed their support for the two regimes. Examples include the Swedish Neo-Nazis who went to Iraq in 2003 to fight for Saddam,[1] and former Klansman Dennis Mahon, who organized a pro-Saddam rally in Tulsa during 1991.[2] Saddam himself had contacts with some of the more mainstream extreme rightists of Europe, such as Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky[3] and Austria's Jorg Haider.[4] Some members of Stormfront have expressed support for Assad as well.[5]
Left wing extremists have also expressed support for Ba'athist regimes; no less than 50 Communist parties have stood up for the Syrian Ba'ath during the recent Syrian civil war,[6] and several Communists have backed Saddam as well.[7] George Galloway, while denying being a Saddam supporter[8] has privately praised the Assad regime, calling Syria "the last castle of Arab dignity".[9]
[edit] Notorious Massacres
In 1966 the Alawite wing of the Syrian party under Hafez al-Assad took control, expelling the original founders of the Party who eventually established themselves in Iraq. Iraqi Ba'athists rose to power in a 1968 coup, initiating a cross-border rivalry between factions, each supporting religious Islamist groups in the others' country. This led to several government crackdowns and massacres.
[edit] Syrian Ba'ath
- Hama massacre[10]
Defending the government's actions on 7 March 1982, President Hafez al-Assad accused the Muslim Brotherhood of posing as Muslims, killing in the name of Islam, as criminals transforming mosques into arms warehouses, and butchering children, women and old people in the name of Islam.[11]
- Ongoing Syrian Civil War
[edit] Iraqi Ba'ath
- Operation Anfal[12]
- Iran-Iraq War
- Dujail Massacre[13]
- During the 1991 uprisings in Iraq, Saddam Hussein killed anywhere from 80,000 to 230,000 civilians, burying the victims in mass graves. Since the fall of Hussein and the Ba'ath Party, some 200 of these mass graves have been uncovered, the largest of which is believed to hold around 10,000 victims.[14]
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Nazisterna vill hjälpa Saddam (Swedish)
- ↑ Southern Poverty Law Center: Feds Indict White Supremacists in Arizona Bombing 26 June 2009
- ↑ BBC News: Zhirinovsky: Russia's political eccentric 10 March 2000
- ↑ Foreign Policy: Did Austrian far-right leader Jorg Haider take money from Saddam and Qaddafi? 25 August 2010
- ↑ I support Assad 5 March 2013
- ↑ Chellange Magazine: Why the Israeli Communist Party defends Assad’s regime 8 July 2011
- ↑ Weekly Worker: Armchair generals, or Saddam's leftwing allies 13 March 2013
- ↑ BBC News: Galloway denies Saddam 'fawning' 16 November 2004
- ↑ Haaretz exclusive: Organizer of Gaza flotilla sought assistance from Assad's office 7 February 2012
- ↑ The Guardian: 1982: Syria's President Hafez al-Assad crushes rebellion in Hama
- ↑ Hafez al-Assad Speech about Muslim Brotherhood (1982), Youtube.
- ↑ BBC News: Anfal: Campaign against the Kurds 24 June 2007
- ↑ The Indian Express: The Dujail massacre 31 December 2006
- ↑ Uncovering Iraq's Horrors in Desert Graves 5 June 2006