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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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