Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region
Encyclopedia
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region (Arab: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي في العراق Hizb Al-Baath Al-Arabi Al-Ishtiraki fi Al-Iraq) is a ba'athist
regional organisation founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi. This regional organisation was a part of the Baghdad-based Ba'ath movement.
In Iraq, the Ba'ath party remained a civilian group and lacked strong support within the military. The party had little impact, and the movement split into several factions after 1958 and again in 1966. The movement was reported to have lacked strong popular support, but through the construction of a strong party apparatus the party succeeded in gaining power. The Iraqi-based party was originally committed to Pan-Arabism like its Syrian counterpart but after taking power in 1968 the party adopted Iraqi nationalism
and encouraged Iraqis to identify themselves as the cultural and civilizational heirs to Mesopotamian and Medieval Islamic identity. Saddam Hussein
sought to be seen as the leader of a great neo-Mesopotamian Iraqi nation by having himself compared to Nebuchadnezzar II and Hammurabi
.
In July 1968, a bloodless coup led by General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein
and Salah Omar Al-Ali
brought the Ba'ath Party back to power. In 1974 the Iraqi Ba'athists formed the National Progressive Front
to broaden support for the government's initiatives. Wranglings within the party continued, and the government periodically purged its dissident members. Emerging as a party strongman, Hussein eventually used his growing power to push al-Bakr aside in 1979 and ruled Iraq until 2003. Under Saddam's tenure Iraq experienced its most dramatic and successful period of economic growth, with its citizens enjoying standards of health care, housing, instruction and salaries/stipends well comparable to those of European countries. Several major infrastructures were laid down to help with the country's growth, although many had to be scaled down or abandoned as the costs of the Iran-Iraq War
became heavier and heavier.
In June 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority
banned the Ba'ath party. Some criticize the additional step the CPA took—of banning all members of the top four tiers of the Ba'ath Party from the new government, as well as from public schools and colleges—as blocking too many experienced people from participation in the new government. Thousands were removed from their positions, including doctors, professors, school teachers, bureaucrats and more. Many teachers lost their jobs, causing protests and demonstrations at schools and universities. Under the previous rule of the Ba'ath party, one could not reach high positions in the government or in the schools without becoming a party member. In fact, party membership was a prerequisite for university admission. In other words, while many Ba'athists joined for ideological reasons, many more were members because it was a way to better their options. After much pressure by the US, 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 actually lead to further dismissals.
The new Constitution of Iraq
approved by a referendum on October 15, 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 Baath in Iraq and its symbols, regardless of the name that it adopts. This may not be part of the political pluralism in Iraq."
On December 17, 2008, the New York Times reported that up to 35 officials in the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior ranking as high as general had been arrested over the three previous days accused of quietly working to reconstitute the Ba'ath Party.
writes about 1958-1979: Arab Nationalism confronting Imperial Iran
, Ba'thist ideology, where, under the influence of al-Husri, Iran was presented as the age-old enemy of the Arabs. Al-Husri's impact on the Iraqi education system was made during the period of the monarchy, but it was the Ba'thists, trained in that period and destined to take power later, who brought his ideas to their full, official and racist, culmination. For the Ba'thists their pan-Arab ideology was laced with anti-Persian
racism, it rested on the pursuit of anti-Persian themes, over the decade and a half after coming to power, Baghdad organised the expulsion of Iraqis of Persian origin, beginning with 40,000 Fayli Kurds, but totalling up to 200,000 or more, by the early years of the war itself. Such racist policies were reinforced by ideology: in 1981, a year after the start of the Iran-Iraq war, Dar al-Hurriya, the government publishing house, issued Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies
by the author, Khairallah Talfah
, the foster-father and father-in-law of Saddam Hussein. Halliday says that it was the Ba'thists too who, claiming to be the defenders of 'Arabism' on the eastern frontiers, brought to the fore the chauvinist myth of Persian migrants and communities in the Gulf.
Ba'athism
Ba'athism is an Arab nationalist ideology that promotes the development and creation of an Arab nation through the leadership of a vanguard party over a progressive revolutionary state. The ideology is officially based on the theories of Zaki al-Arsuzi , Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar...
regional organisation founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi. This regional organisation was a part of the Baghdad-based Ba'ath movement.
Leaders
- Fuad al-Rikabi (1951–1961)
- Ali Salih al-Sadi (1961–1963)
- Hazim Jawad (1963–1966/68?)
- Ahmed Hassan al-BakrAhmed Hassan al-BakrGeneral Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr , was the fourth President of Iraq from 1968 to 1979.-Military career:...
(1966/68?–1979) - Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
(1979–2003 de factoDe factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
(from 13 December 2003 until 30 December 2006 de jureDe jureDe jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
) - Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri (2007–Present)
History
The branch was founded in 1951 by Fuad al-Rikabi.In Iraq, the Ba'ath party remained a civilian group and lacked strong support within the military. The party had little impact, and the movement split into several factions after 1958 and again in 1966. The movement was reported to have lacked strong popular support, but through the construction of a strong party apparatus the party succeeded in gaining power. The Iraqi-based party was originally committed to Pan-Arabism like its Syrian counterpart but after taking power in 1968 the party adopted Iraqi nationalism
Iraqi nationalism
Iraqi nationalism refers to a nationalism based on Iraqi identity. Iraqi nationalism in history was influential in Iraq's movement to independence from Ottoman and British occupation. Iraqi nationalism was an important aspect in the 1920 Revolution against British occupation, and the 1958...
and encouraged Iraqis to identify themselves as the cultural and civilizational heirs to Mesopotamian and Medieval Islamic identity. Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
sought to be seen as the leader of a great neo-Mesopotamian Iraqi nation by having himself compared to Nebuchadnezzar II and Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
.
In July 1968, a bloodless coup led by General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
and Salah Omar Al-Ali
Salah Omar Al-Ali
Salah Omar Al-Ali was a member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council, and Iraqi Minister of Culture and Information, serving from 1968 to 1970, and subsequently served as ambassador to Sweden, Spain and the United Nations from 1973 to 1981...
brought the Ba'ath Party back to power. In 1974 the Iraqi Ba'athists formed the National Progressive Front
National Progressive Front (Iraq)
The National Progressive Front was an Iraqi Popular Front announced on July 16, 1973 and constituted in 1974, ostensibly formed within the framework of a "joint action programme" to establish a coalition between the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, the Iraqi Communist Party, the Kurdistan...
to broaden support for the government's initiatives. Wranglings within the party continued, and the government periodically purged its dissident members. Emerging as a party strongman, Hussein eventually used his growing power to push al-Bakr aside in 1979 and ruled Iraq until 2003. Under Saddam's tenure Iraq experienced its most dramatic and successful period of economic growth, with its citizens enjoying standards of health care, housing, instruction and salaries/stipends well comparable to those of European countries. Several major infrastructures were laid down to help with the country's growth, although many had to be scaled down or abandoned as the costs of the Iran-Iraq War
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
became heavier and heavier.
In June 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
banned the Ba'ath party. Some criticize the additional step the CPA took—of banning all members of the top four tiers of the Ba'ath Party from the new government, as well as from public schools and colleges—as blocking too many experienced people from participation in the new government. Thousands were removed from their positions, including doctors, professors, school teachers, bureaucrats and more. Many teachers lost their jobs, causing protests and demonstrations at schools and universities. Under the previous rule of the Ba'ath party, one could not reach high positions in the government or in the schools without becoming a party member. In fact, party membership was a prerequisite for university admission. In other words, while many Ba'athists joined for ideological reasons, many more were members because it was a way to better their options. After much pressure by the US, the policy of de-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification refers to a Coalition Provisional Authority policy outlined in CPA Order 1 which entered into force on 16 May 2003. The policy’s goal was to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system...
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 actually lead to further dismissals.
The new Constitution of Iraq
Constitution of Iraq
The Constitution of Iraq is Iraq's fundamental law.-History:Iraq's first constitution, which established a constitutional monarchy, entered into force under the auspices of a British military occupation in 1925 and remained in effect until the 1958 revolution established a republic...
approved by a referendum on October 15, 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 Baath in Iraq and its symbols, regardless of the name that it adopts. This may not be part of the political pluralism in Iraq."
On December 17, 2008, the New York Times reported that up to 35 officials in the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior ranking as high as general had been arrested over the three previous days accused of quietly working to reconstitute the Ba'ath Party.
Allegations of racism
Author Fred HallidayFred Halliday
Frederick Halliday, FBA was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula.-Biography:Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1946 to an English father, businessman Arthur Halliday, and an...
writes about 1958-1979: Arab Nationalism confronting Imperial Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Ba'thist ideology, where, under the influence of al-Husri, Iran was presented as the age-old enemy of the Arabs. Al-Husri's impact on the Iraqi education system was made during the period of the monarchy, but it was the Ba'thists, trained in that period and destined to take power later, who brought his ideas to their full, official and racist, culmination. For the Ba'thists their pan-Arab ideology was laced with anti-Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
racism, it rested on the pursuit of anti-Persian themes, over the decade and a half after coming to power, Baghdad organised the expulsion of Iraqis of Persian origin, beginning with 40,000 Fayli Kurds, but totalling up to 200,000 or more, by the early years of the war itself. Such racist policies were reinforced by ideology: in 1981, a year after the start of the Iran-Iraq war, Dar al-Hurriya, the government publishing house, issued Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies
Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies
Three Whom God Should Not Have Created: Persians, Jews, and Flies is the name of a racist Iraqi government pamphlet widely published during the era of Saddam Hussein....
by the author, Khairallah Talfah
Khairallah Talfah
Khairallah Talfah - Khayr-Allah Telfah - Khairallah Tolfah - Khairallah Tilfah was an Iraqi Ba'ath Party official, and the maternal uncle and father-in-law of Saddam Hussein. He was the father of Sajida Talfah, Saddam's first wife, and of Adnan Khairallah, defence minister...
, the foster-father and father-in-law of Saddam Hussein. Halliday says that it was the Ba'thists too who, claiming to be the defenders of 'Arabism' on the eastern frontiers, brought to the fore the chauvinist myth of Persian migrants and communities in the Gulf.
Presidential Elections
| Election date | Party candidate | Number of votes received | Percentage of votes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
8,348,700 | 100% |
| 2002 | Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
11,445,638 | 100% |
Parliamentary Elections
| Election date | Party leader | Number of votes received | Percentage of votes | Number of deputies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 Iraqi parliamentary election, 1980 Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 20 June 1980, the first since 1958. The election was contested by around 860 candidates, and saw the Ba'ath Party win 187 of the 250 seats. Voter turnout was approximately 80%.-Results:... |
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
Unknown | Unknown | 187 |
| 1984 Iraqi parliamentary election, 1984 Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 20 October 1984. The election was contested by 782 candidates, and saw the Ba'ath Party win 183 of the 250 seats.-Results:... |
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
Unknown | Unknown | 183 |
| 1989 Iraqi parliamentary election, 1989 Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 1 April 1989, having originally been scheduled for 31 August 1988, but postponed due to the Iran-Iraq War. The election was contested by 921 candidates, and saw the Ba'ath Party win 207 of the 250 seats.-Results:... |
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
Unknown | Unknown | 207 |
| 1996 Iraqi parliamentary election, 1996 Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 24 March 1996. The election was contested by 689 candidates, although 30 MPs were appointed to represent Iraqi Kurdistan. The result was a victory for the Ba'ath Party, which won 161 of the 250 seats. Voter turnout was reported to be 93.5%.-Results:... |
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
Unknown | Unknown | 161 |
| 2000 Iraqi parliamentary election, 2000 Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 27 March 2000. The election was contested by 522 candidates, although 30 MPs were appointed to represent Iraqi Kurdistan. The result was a victory for the Ba'ath Party, which won 165 of the 250 seats.-Results:... |
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003... |
Unknown | 66% | 165 |