4/29/2015
The erratic ISIS and Baath party connection
Al Arabiya News
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middleeast/2015/04/18/TheerraticISISandBaathpartyconnection.html 1/5
Dr. Theodore
Karasik
The erratic ISIS and Baath party connection
Saturday, 18 April 2015
The reported death, yet to be confirmed, of the King of Clubs, Izzat Ibrahim alDouri,
in the notorious U.S. mostwanted Iraqi playing cards, is bringing in to sharp relief the
issue of the Baathist factor in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or ISIS.
Baathism, of course, has its roots all the way back to 1943. Baathism, or
“renaissance” or “resurrection” is an anticolonial and panArabist doctrine. At the
time, being a Baathist, meant to claim a pure blood lineage to the origins of Islam and,
at the same time, invoke the mid–twentieth century ideals of socialism. Baathism
called for the rejection of the “Western civilization’s invasion of the Arab mind.” Sound
familiar?
What followed, of course, was the fusion with socialist ideology compounded by
nationalism. Later, Baathists seemed to be returning to their roots by attempting to
restore their power through a number of different tracks over the past decade:
secularism, insurgency, and terrorism.
That Baathists helped ISIS, before the declaration of the ‘Caliphate,’ to rush into
Iraq last year, and assist in the battles for key nodes in Iraq, is indisputable. Even in the Second Battle of Tikrit, just
fought in the past few weeks, Baathists were a prominent component of ISIS forces. The very fact that Saddam
Hussein’s alTikriti tribe was tossed out of their tribal domain certainly bore the hallmarks of the ultimate revenge
against the Baathist core.
Military maneuvers
Iraqi Baathists, who went underground following the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003, clearly never
were put on the ash heap of history. These Baathists, engrained with an ideology with tribal and Sunni attributes, bided
their time, seeing greater and more repugnant treatment by the Shiite government in Baghdad under former Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki.
Dr. Theodore Karasik
The complex mosaic that is Iraq helped them create the insurgency, alQaeda in Mesopotamia or alQaeda in Iraq
(AQI), which is now seen today as ISIS. Ramadi seems to be next on their list as thousands flee. It is notable that the
Baathist factor is never ending, it seems, taking two steps forward, and two steps backwards, despite the U.S.led
coalition airstrikes and the relentless fighting of the Iraqi security forces including the AlHashd alSha‘b, also known as
the Popular Mobilization Units, the Shiite militias and the Kurdish Peshmerga.
It is reasonable to gather that Iraqi Baathists have been and are helping ISIS with military tactics, techniques, and
The Baathist Factor in ISIS is not static: It is erratic, wavering, selfserving, and,
“
most important, amorphous
”
4/29/2015 The erratic ISIS and Baath party connection Al Arabiya News
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procedures (TTPs). These skills are being mixed with the Chechen military terrorist influence in ISIS and there is little
doubt that the nexus between the two makes for robust battle TTPs. In addition, top Baathists, at the beginning of ISIS
included former Iraqi officers like Fadel alHayali, the top deputy for Iraq, who once served Saddam Hussein as a
lieutenant colonel, and Adnan alSweidawi, a former lieutenant colonel who headed the group’s military council. ISIS
leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi had allegedly sought to win the support and loyalty of both men, as well as other
experienced former Iraqi army officers, from very early on.
Division line
But we should not put Iraqi Baathists and ISIS always in the same basket. The Baathist Jaysh Rijal alTariqa alNaqshibandi
(JRTN) or the Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order, actually predate ISIS as they were formed in
2007 by Baathists in the wake of Saddam Hussein’s execution during Eid AlAdha, which was seen as the ultimate
insult by the Shiite Baghdad government against the former Sunni regime. There are clashes between the two groups
that have resulted in executions and infighting over the last year. The division line between the two groups becomes
sharpest after the battlefield shifts and personal scores or religiopolitical and tribal disputes and retribution need to be
settled. In other words, the Baathist Factor in ISIS is not static: It is erratic, wavering, selfserving, and, most important,
amorphous.
Baathists are, by nature, antiKurd and antiPersian, and antiShiite. Their thirtyfive years in power in Iraq helped to
create several generations of ideologicallydriven, tribal and family networks that found themselves in bed with the
violent extremists of ISIS. The Baathist cult of violence fits neatly into ISIS’s criminal violence augmented now by social
media. Imagine for a moment if Iraqi Baathists had demonstrated heavy public use Twitter or other platforms. Perhaps
the resulting shock and psychological productions would be the same.
But violence begets violence, and the Baathist factor in ISIS will erupt from time to time, in viciousness, but also in unity,
when it is expedient. Losing top Baathists leaders do not kill a generational mindset. Thus, the idea that Iraq may not
be unified any time soon is highly likely because until time passes, political reforms are introduced by Baghdad, and
ISIS is pushed out of the fragmented country, the Baathist Factor will remain a menace.
_________
Dr. Theodore Karasik is a Gulfbased analyst of regional geopolitical affairs. He received his Ph.D in History from
UCLA in Los Angeles, California in four fields: Middle East, Russia, Caucasus, and a specialized subfield in Cultural
Anthropology focusing on tribes and clans.
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