Ba'ath Party

[[File:Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg|right|thumb|200px|The flag of the Ba'ath Party.]]
{{politics}}'''The Ba'ath Party''' (Arabic: البعث ''Al-Ba'ath'' or ''Ba'ath'' meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection") is a secular Non-Aligned Movement [[politics|political]] line of thinking that developed in the wake of divestment by the various colonial powers after World War II. In a sense, the schismatic nature of Ba'athism has been akin to European [[Communism]], and this was reflected in the rivalry between the Iraqi and Syrian branches of the party. Despite the genuinely horrific realities of Ba'athist reign, the alternative — hardline Islamic religious political parties like the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] — presents a much more tenuous situation. The ideology was originally the Arab world’s equivalent of Soviet/Russian socialism and communism (before it eventually became Nazism for Arabs).<ref>http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=371042003</ref> The most famous Ba'ath  leaders are the [[Iraq|Iraqi]] former dictator [[Saddam Hussein]], and the [[Syria]]n former dictators [[Bashar al-Assad]] and his father Hafez al-Assad.

==History==
The fundamental theories of Ba'athism were outlined by {{wpl|Zaki al-Arsuzi||,}} {{wpl|Michel Aflaq||,}} and {{wpl|Salah al-Din al-Bitar||.}} The primary tenets are the secular, socialized, single-party [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arabic]] state and anti-imperialism.

The most notable schism of this particular political creed is between the [[Iraq]]i Ba'athist and [[Syria]]n Ba'athist parties. Ba'athism started as a movement to regain Arab identity against colonialism, then quickly devolved towards fascism.<ref>[https://newrepublic.com/article/107238/baathism-obituary Baathism: An Obituary] by Paul Berman (September 13, 2012) ''The New Republic''.</ref> They had some socialist policies, but then they began killing all the socialists and communists and shortly after that split into a [[Horseshoe theory|"right-wing" version (Saddam) and a "left-wing" version (Assad)]].{{citation needed}} Their whole reasoning behind being fascists is "everyone is a reactionary except for me".

A slew of ideological splinters proceeds, including {{wpl|Ba'athism#Neo-Ba'athism|Neo-Ba'athism|,}} {{wpl|Ba'athism#Assadism|Assadism|,}} {{wpl|Ba'athism#Saddamism|Saddamism|,}} and many other flavors. However, one uniting point for all these has been supporting the [[Palestine|Palestinians]] or hatred of Israel — to most Ba'athists, those things are one and the same. However, to what degree this support extends varies from regime to regime. It should also be emphasized that Ba'athist parties also have a long and contentious record with the PLO and other Palestinian political parties, so trying to figure out who hates who more inadvertently shows just how disunited the whole region is.

Despite the classification of the Iraqi Ba'ath party as "right-wing" compared to its Syrian counterpart, Ba'athism as a whole has a peculiar place on the [[political spectrum]] and does not fit easily into traditional categories. Like [[Nazism]], it claims to be an ideology that combines nationalism with socialism — however, ''unlike'' Nazism (see [[Hitler and socialism]]), it goes much further to follow through on the "socialist" part. Whereas Nazism in practice never had any economic model more radical than a bizarre kind of racist welfare capitalism based on a permanent war economy, Saddam's Iraq had social policies similar to fascism (extreme nationalism, racism, social conservatism, etc.) but also a [[command economy]] more like the [[Soviet Union]] and other Marxist-Leninist countries, with the state owning and controlling quite a lot of property. This combination of far-right and far-left beliefs perhaps reflects the influence of Stalinism.<ref group=note>If so, this would make Ba'athism an example of the [[National Bolshevism|Nazbol gang]] in action, but Arab.</ref> When the United States overthrew Saddam, one of the first things they did was dismantle this state-socialist economy and [[Privatization|privatize]] everything in a display of [[Free market#Free market fundamentalism|market fundamentalism]], which was meant to reduce inefficiency and increase growth, but backfired by causing massive unemployment that led to more instability and arguably bolstered the anti-American insurgency.<ref>https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/168/35942.html</ref> (Great job, guys!) Meanwhile, the once supposedly more "left-wing" Syria has reformed its economy towards a market-based model more cautiously over time, though with somewhat similar results to Iraq despite that.<ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/05/29/153916783/how-economic-reforms-are-contributing-to-the-conflict-in-syria</ref><ref group=note>It's unclear to what extent Syria can now be described as socialist; after almost a decade of the civil war (not to mention the antics of [[DAESH]]), a better descriptor for its economy might just be "shitshow".</ref>

==Support by Western extremists==
Under the Ba'ath party, both [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]] have clashed with [[Israel]] and [[United States|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,<ref>[http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article10343432.ab Nazisterna vill hjälpa Saddam] (Swedish)</ref> and former Klansman Dennis Mahon, who organized a pro-Saddam rally in Tulsa in 1991.<ref>[http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2009/06/26/feds-indict-white-supremacists-in-arizona-bombing/ Southern Poverty Law Center: Feds Indict White Supremacists in Arizona Bombing] 26 June 2009</ref> Saddam himself had contacts with some of the more mainstream extreme rightists of Europe, such as Russia's [[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/667745.stm BBC News: Zhirinovsky: Russia's political eccentric] 10 March 2000</ref> and Austria's [[Jörg Haider]].<ref>[http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/08/25/austrian_media_far_right_leader_bankrolled_by_saddam_and_qaddafi Foreign Policy: Did Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider take money from Saddam and Qaddafi?] 25 August 2010</ref> Some members of [[Stormfront]] have expressed support for Assad as well.<ref>[http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t951721/ I support Assad] 5 March 2013</ref>

Left-wing extremists have also expressed support for Ba'athist regimes; according to one source, no less than 50 Communist parties have stood up for the Syrian Ba'ath during the recent Syrian civil war (though they aren't named),<ref>[http://www.challenge-mag.com/en/article__297 Chellange Magazine: Why the Israeli Communist Party defends Assad’s regime] 8 July 2011</ref> and several individual Communists have backed Saddam as well.<ref>[http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/471/armchair-generals-or-saddam-s-leftwing-allies Weekly Worker: Armchair generals, or Saddam's leftwing allies] 13 March 2013</ref> While denying being a Saddam supporter,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4016803.stm BBC News: Galloway denies Saddam 'fawning'] 16 November 2004</ref> [[George Galloway]] has privately praised the Assad regime, calling Syria "the last castle of Arab dignity".<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/haaretz-exclusive-organizer-of-gaza-flotilla-sought-assistance-from-assad-s-office-1.411556  Haaretz exclusive: Organizer of Gaza flotilla sought assistance from Assad's office] 7 February 2012</ref> [[Christopher Hitchens|Hitch]] once said about the man that his "search for a tyrannical fatherland never ends" — well, maybe it has for now.

==Relation to Islam==
Ba'athism was nominally secular or non-denominational in its attitude to [[Islam]], although opinions differ as to its underlying beliefs.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2004/10/islamism-and-baathism-aren-t-that-different.html It’s an Arab Nationalist Thing], Lee Smith, ''Slate'', Oct 2004</ref> Aflaq, although a Christian, admired Islam as a cultural force that had shaped the Arab character, and Islam acted as a powerful force aligned with Ba'athist pan-Arabism: the movement traditionally supported religion for its social role and as a rallying point for Arab unity while opposing [[Theocracy|theocratic]] rule such as that in [[Iran]]. Saddam initially distrusted fundamentalist Muslims (he distrusted most people as a threat to his power), but after the [[Iran-Iraq War]], Saddam increasingly relied on Islam to get support and keep his population in line. After the fall of Saddam, technocratic Ba'athist methods of control mingled with fundamentalist [[Salafism]] in the resistance to the US, particularly in [[ISIS]], which was as fond of statistics as it was of the Quran; the two movements shared pan-Arabist and anti-western ideologies as well as a casualness about killing their enemies.<ref>[https://worldcrunch.com/syria-crisis/between-salafism-and-baathism-the-recipe-for-isis-success/c13s18937 Between Salafism And Baathism, The Recipe For ISIS Success], Christophe Ayad, ''Le Monde'', 2015-06-18</ref> Compare this to Assad, who condemned other Islamic nations who implemented political Islam, which he saw as [[Not even wrong|a failed experiment]]. He also viewed Islam as a cultural vestige of the Arab world’s past, and instead viewed secularism and socialism as the future. Of course, this all went to shit when he got deposed and fled to Russia.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/assad-hails-fall-of-political-islam-in-egypt/amp/ Assad hails fall of ‘political Islam’ in Egypt] Times of Israel</ref>

==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.

===Syrian Ba'ath===

*Hama massacre<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/aug/01/hama-syria-massacre-1982-archive The Guardian: 1982: Syria's President Hafez al-Assad crushes rebellion in Hama]</ref> 
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.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DldRkALa6Is Hafez al-Assad Speech about Muslim Brotherhood (1982)], Youtube.</ref>
*Ongoing Syrian Civil War; see more details at {{wpl|List of massacres in Syria}}

===Iraqi Ba'ath===

*Operation Anfal<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4877364.stm BBC News: Anfal: Campaign against the Kurds] 24 June 2007</ref>
*[[Iran-Iraq War]]
*Dujail Massacre<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-dujail-massacre-/19772/ The Indian Express: The Dujail massacre] 31 December 2006</ref>
*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.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/world/middleeast/05grave.html?_r=0 Uncovering Iraq's Horrors in Desert Graves] 5 June 2006</ref>

==See also==
* [[Juche]]
* [[National Bolshevism]]
* [[Stalinism]]
* [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]
* [[Muammar Gaddafi]]
* [[Third Position]]
* [[Fascism#Left-wing fascism|Left-wing fascism]]
* [[Animal Farm]] See the character of [[wp:Napoleon (Animal Farm)|Napoleon]] from the book by [[George Orwell]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Anti-Western]]
[[Category:Crimes against humanity]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Left-wing nationalism]]
[[Category:Leftists who turned right with age]]
[[Category:Political parties]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Totalitarianism]]

Categories: Authoritarianism, Anti-Western, Crimes against humanity, Fascism, Left-wing nationalism, Leftists who turned right with age, Political parties, Racism, Socialism, Totalitarianism