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The War on Terror: Target Iraq | The Ba’ath Party and Fascism (Leadership Cult)
The War on Terror: Target Iraq | The Ba’ath Party and Fascism (Leadership Cult)

The Ba’ath Party and Fascism (Leadership Cult)

The Ba'ath Party

The Arab Ba'ath (Resurrection) Socialist Party (ABSP) was founded by three French-educated intellectuals: Michel Aflaq, a Christian; Salah al ditan Bitar, a Sunni Muslim, and Zaki al Arsuzi, an Alawite. It is a self-professed revolutionary party, with a doctrine that combines Pan-Arabism with Socialism. In its pristine form, Ba'ath ideology calls for the creation of one Arab nation.

In order to understand the ideological framework for the use of terror by the Ba'ath and the perceived role of the Party, it is necessary to examine the writings of Ba'athism's ideological mentors, who defined Ba'athist ideological pillars as unity, socialism and freedom.

Ba'athist Ideology and the Legitimization of Terror

In 1944, in an article entitled "The New Arab Generation" Aflaq wrote:

"The nation is not a numerical sum, but an "idea" (spirit) embodied either in the total or in part of it. Nations are not destroyed by a reduction in the number of their members, but by the construction of the "idea" amongst them. The numerical total is not a holy thing and end of itself, but only in so far as it has an embodiment of the "idea" of the nation ... The leader in times of weakness of the idea and its constriction, is not one to appeal to a majority or to consensus...: He is not one to substitute numbers for the "idea", but to translate numbers into the idea. He is not the ingatherer, but the unifier ... He is the master of the idea from which he contradicts all those who contradict it."[33]

Aflaq's concept of "the idea", or "spirit" reflects the thoughts of Rousseau and his belief in the "General Will." Justice and democracy are not an expression of the will of the majority but, rather, that of an existential truth. The role of the leader and the Party is to express that "General Will". The nation is constituted with those who recognize "the idea". The "idea" is expressed through the Party leader:

"In the conditions of the Arab nation today we need a party and a movement that represents .. the element of the spirit... The Party must be a smaller version of the pure healthy and elevated nation that it wishes to resurrect."[34]

The Party was not responsible for reshaping society, but in essence gave meaning to society. For terror to be effective, it had to have social organization. Ba'athist ideology held that the Party must become,

"the nation of revolution before it achieves the revolution of the nation [35]"

Only through party organization could the thwarted sense of individual identity be realized. The Party leaders were considered the enlightened, the carriers of "the idea" or "spirit", who:

"represent the people before the People ... (and) .. delegate themselves to undertake this representation." [36]

In essence, the patriarchal personality cult substituted for personal choice and democratic values - the authoritative family model is patterned throughout society. This is, however, presented in a different theoretical light: one where morality, normalcy and existence are only definable ideologically within the parameters of the Party and its leadership; the Party therefore giving meaning to existence.

"The people everywhere are unable to understand any idea truly and quickly. That is why they look to living individuals in whom the idea is vested. It is to these individuals and only to the extent of their moral worth and enthusiasm, that one looks to measure the value of the exposed idea." [37]

Within Aflaq's writing we find the ideological framework in which the Ba'athist regime consider and reinforce the role of the Party and its Leader. If the Party expresses a "General Will", any opposition to or deviation from the "truth" is not only considered unnecessary but can not be tolerated.

This is taken even further, delegitimizing any opposition to this sacred institution: the possibility of deviation from the "idea" was recognized by the early Ba'athist ideologues, such as Sami Shawkat, who noted:

"Our nation, like all nations, has enemies…internal and external. Usually the internal enemy is more destructive than the external one. No nation has had a real renaissance without first of all defeating and totally uprooting this internal enemy from its foundations.

The internal enemy consists of those individuals or groups who, led by values absorbed from school and community, come to see themselves as strangers in the midst of the majesty and loftiness of the State which they view as harmful to their interests.

As their strength is not sufficient to allow them to stand up against the State and declare their enmity openly, they strive in secret, stretching their hands in darkness, to the external enemy, conspiring to become his spy, while all along their heart is full of envy, anger and vengeance." [38]

The Ba'ath sees itself struggling to enlighten the Iraqi populace about the external threat - and what better way, than to identify all opposition with the amorphous foreign enemy? Its continual paranoia concerning "the enemy" and "foreign agents" is deeply rooted in ideology and is used to provide a justification for recourse to terror.

Unity, Socialism and Freedom are the pillars of the Ba'athist movement. Unity has taken the form of a pan- Arabism that envisions the elimination of artificial boundaries fixed by imperial powers after the First World War and the foundation of a single Arab State. The nationalism of the Ba'ath calls for an unquestioning faith: a questioning of reason, a doubting of Party policy, is considered the work of the enemy and its network of agents.

"... a faith that precedes all knowledge and mock definition .. the nationalism we are calling for is love before anything else ... He who loves does not ask for reason." [39]

Freedom can only be achieved through the Party Organization.

Membership

In 1963, having seized power in Iraq for the first time, the Ba'ath Party claimed a following of just under 16,000 members; with only a few hundred full members.[40] This thin membership base is considered one of the reasons for the first regime's failure.

Following the Second Ba'ath Coup in 1968, the Party undertook an ambitious recruitment campaign, with the aim of creating secure roots throughout the country. By 1980, membership was estimated to be 1.5 million members: over 10% of the Iraqi population and 30% of the adult population [41] . The numbers remained stable in 1990, with an active "core group" estimated at 25,000 - 50,000.[42] Professor Helms notes that:

"Hierarchy, discipline and secrecy are ... (the Ba'ath Party's) dominant characteristics. At the base is the individual cell, the neighborhood unit: followed in the hierarchy by the 'division', which may cover a small city; the district 'sector": and the provincial branch of which there are twenty one. At the top of the Pyramid is the Regional Command, from which, in theory at least the Regional Command Council, the highest executive and legislative body of the state is elected."[43]

The outstanding characteristic of the Party is discipline and secrecy. Cellular in structure, it is designed to resist both infiltration and attack from rival groups, allowing no free transfer of information between cells. Communication occurs vertically: never horizontally, so that recruitment can be restricted, information controlled, opposition isolated and surgically liquidated. The very structure of the Party facilitates the use of terror against political opponents.

  • Membership recruitment is based upon an apprenticeship system: a recruit's prolonged loyalty to the Ba'ath is rewarded by promotion in an infrastructure created by the Party itself. Strict guidelines govern personal behavior of members.
  • At the apex of the Iraqi Ba'ath is the National Command. The Regional Commands are, technically at least, under the command of the National Command. The National Command may appoint and dismiss members and have responsibility for party activities within each state and between states, but it has become less significant in the hierarchy, being overshadowed by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). This body, established in 1968, is the most powerful decision making body in Iraq and fulfilling both executive and legislative roles.
  • Theoretically, the Council may restrain the actions of the President. Yet few RCC members dare disagree with the President; and for good reason. Saddam Hussein assassinated 20 people for "treacherous activities" in mid-1979, when he assumed the Presidency. [44] Demotion and transfer to overseas posts are also common methods of deterring opposition.
  • The Ba'ath Party has successfully penetrated all sectors of society; Party membership is a pre-requisite to influence and advancement, both politically and socially. The enormous membership and elaborate structure enables Party leaders to mobilize and keep watch on all sectors of society; civil informers play a key role in surveillance .Party members are required to inform on family and friends, including other Party members. Iraq became a country of informers.
    The threat of the death penalty assures fidelity to the party. [45]
  • Since 1974, it has been a capital offense for a Ba'ath member to keep secret a previous political membership and connections, or to work for, or in the interest of, any other party or political grouping. Even when leaving the Ba'ath Party, the threat of the use of terror assures loyalty. Since 1976, it has been a capital offense even for former members to have a connection with any other party, or political grouping.
  • Propagating Zionist or Masonic principles is considered prejudicial to the internal security of the State and is a specified capital offense. Political organization within the ranks of the army, which is detrimental to the Ba'ath Party, as well as desertion recruiting a person who has, or had, organization relations with the Ba'ath Party are crimes punishable by death.

The Revolutionary Courts are linked directly to the President's Office and are not supervised by the Ministry of Justice as are the ordinary courts. Furthermore, the Revolutionary Court interprets the Law according to Ba'ath Party principles. Its bench consists of three members who are always Party members: the majority of death sentences are passed through these special courts.

Political killings are also widespread in Iraq.

Execution, torture and the threat of the death penalty provide a guarantee of fidelity to the Party and constitute a prime example of the political terror used by the Ba'athist regime. The reliance by the Ba'ath regime on the use of terror to perpetuate its rule has facilitated the need for and development of institutionalized terror.

 

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