DOCSLIB.ORG

How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ the New York Times

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ the New York Times 12/23/2015 How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ The New York Times http://nyti.ms/1ZoKefI The Opinion Pages | OP­ED CONTRIBUTOR How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS By KYLE W. ORTON DEC. 23, 2015 WIRRAL, England — WHOM should we blame for the Islamic State? In the debate about its origins, many have concluded that it arose from the American­ led coalition’s errors after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In fact, the groundwork for the emergence of the militant jihadist group was laid many years earlier by the government of Saddam Hussein. The Arab nationalist Baath Party, which seized power in 1968 in a coup in which Mr. Hussein played a key role, had a firmly secular outlook. This held through the 1970s, even as religiosity rose among the Iraqi people. But soon after Mr. Hussein invaded Iran in 1980, it began to change. In a few tactical instances during the 1980s, Mr. Hussein allied with Islamists, notably the Muslim Brotherhood, to destabilize his regional rival in Syria, but these were limited, plausibly deniable links. In 1986, however, the Pan­Arab Command, the Baath Party’s top ideological institution, formally reoriented Iraq’s foreign policy toward an alliance with Islamists. This was the first clear deviation from secular Baathism. The shift was accompanied by a domestic “Islamization,” with regime http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/how­saddam­hussein­gave­us­isis.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story­heading&mo… 1/4 12/23/2015 How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ The New York Times media dropping references to a “secular state” and describing the war against Iran as a “jihad.” The changes accelerated after 1989 when Michel Aflaq, the Christian founder of the Baath Party, died, and Mr. Hussein claimed that Mr. Aflaq had converted to Islam. Alive, Mr. Aflaq was a bulwark against Islamization; as a dead convert, he could — and did — baptize a new direction. The campaign of Islamization intensified further after Iraq’s devastating defeat in Kuwait in 1991 and the subsequent Shiite revolt, culminating in 1993 with Mr. Hussein’s abandonment of the last vestiges of Baath secularism when he initiated the Faith Campaign. In some respects, Mr. Hussein’s government was following rather than leading public opinion, as Iraqis fell back on their faith for solace under the harsh international sanctions. But what began as a cynical attempt to shore up support, as the regime retreated to its Sunni tribal base, took on a life of its own, transforming Iraq into an Islamist state and imposing lasting changes on Iraqi society. The government imposed a version of Shariah law: Thieves had their hands cut off, homosexuals were thrown from rooftops and prostitutes were beheaded in public squares. Numerous mosques were built, Quran study became a national focus and midlevel clerics acquired new roles as community leaders. The Faith Campaign claimed to be ecumenical, but its clear pro­Sunni tilt led to a final collapse of relations between the state and the Shiite population and heightened sectarian tensions. In the Sunni areas, however, the campaign was effective, creating a religious movement I call Baathi­Salafism, under Mr. Hussein’s leadership. It also eased strains between the regime and independent religious movements like the “pure” Salafists, whose long opposition to the regime gave way to some of its members serving in its administration, even though Mr. Hussein was warned by his intelligence chief that if the alliance continued, the Salafists would eventually supplant the regime. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/how­saddam­hussein­gave­us­isis.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story­heading&mo… 2/4 12/23/2015 How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ The New York Times Alongside the Faith Campaign, Mr. Hussein’s regime constructed a system of cross­border smuggling networks designed to evade the sanctions. This funded a system of patronage, much of it distributed through mosques, that maintained a series of militias directly loyal to the ruler, like the Fedayeen Saddam and the Sunni tribes, as a hedge against any repeat of the 1991 Shiite revolt. These networks, which are deeply entrenched in the local populations, especially the tribes of western Iraq, are now run by the Islamic State, adding to the difficulty of uprooting the “caliphate.” One of the less advertised aspects of the Faith Campaign was the infiltration of mosques by military intelligence officers. There was a trapdoor in this policy: With Baathism a spent force by the late 1990s, many of them slid into Salafism. The security sector had been profoundly influenced by Salafism by the time Mr. Hussein’s government fell. It’s true that disbanding the Iraqi Army after 2003 put professional soldiers at the service of the Sunni insurgency. It’s also true that Al Qaeda in Iraq — the small, foreign­led nucleus of what became the Islamic State — used poorly run American prisons like Camp Bucca to recruit former regime elements. But the significant fact is that those who assumed leadership roles in the Islamic State’s military council had been radicalized earlier, under Mr. Hussein’s regime. There was never any “Baathist coup” of former regime elements inside the Islamic State, as some analysts assume, because these men had long since abandoned Baathism. They joined Al Qaeda in Iraq early after the invasion as an act of ideological conviction, and when Al Qaeda in Iraq’s leadership was nearly destroyed in 2008­10, these officers were the last men standing precisely because of their superior counterintelligence and security skills. It was these Salafized former military intelligence officers — led by Samir al­Khlifawi, also known as Haji Bakr, who had joined the group in 2003 and rose to be the so­called caliph’s deputy, until he was killed in 2014 — who http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/how­saddam­hussein­gave­us­isis.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story­heading&mo… 3/4 12/23/2015 How Saddam Hussein Gave Us ISIS ­ The New York Times planned the Islamic State’s dramatic expansion into Syria. There, they set up a Saddam Hussein­style authoritarian regime that was the launchpad for the jihadists’ invasion of Iraq in 2014. “On the eve of the American invasion in 2003, Iraq was a new country,” writes Amatzia Baram in his book “Saddam Husayn and Islam, 1968­2003.” It was “no longer a moderately religious society with a large number of secular individuals and a modernizing secular ruling elite, but a country on the way to deep religiosity.” Mr. Hussein did not hold down religious militancy and sectarianism, but incubated them and prepared the ground for an armed Salafist movement. The tribes, criminal networks, militias and distributed weapons stores that the regime used to secure support and head off a new revolt laid the material basis for a decentralized insurgency. The Islamic State was not created by removing Saddam Hussein’s regime; it is the afterlife of that regime. Kyle W. Orton, a Middle East analyst, is an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London­based foreign policy think tank. A version of this op­ed appears in print on December 23, 2015, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: ISIS’ Debt to Saddam Hussein. © 2015 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/how­saddam­hussein­gave­us­isis.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story­heading&mo… 4/4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Who Are the Insurgents? Sunni Arab Rebels in Iraq
    UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE www.usip.org SPECIAL REPORT 1200 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063 ABOUT THE REPORT “Who Are the Insurgents?” offers insight into the breadth of Sunni Arab groups actively participating Who Are the Insurgents? in the insurrection in Iraq and specifically examines the three broad categories of insurgents: secular/ ideological, tribal, and Islamist. With the exception Sunni Arab Rebels in Iraq of the ultraradical Salafi and Wahhabi Islamists, this report finds, many rebels across these three classifications share common interests and do not sit so comfortably in any one grouping or category. This presents specific problems—and Summary opportunities—for U.S. and coalition forces that, • Building a profile of a typical anti-coalition Sunni Arab insurgent in Iraq is a daunting if handled correctly, could eventually lead to a rapprochement with some of the insurgents. task. Demographic information about the insurgents is fragmented, and the rebels themselves are marked more by their heterogeneity than by their homogeneity. Draw- The report’s author, Amatzia Baram, is a professor ing from a wide array of sources, however, we can try to piece together a view of their of Middle Eastern history at the University of Haifa, primary motivations for taking up arms against the U.S.-led occupation. Israel. He is a prolific writer and editor of several books and dozens of scholarly articles on Saddam • Sunni insurgents generally claim one of three primary identity-based impetuses Hussein and Iraqi politics and history. He testified for their anti-American and antigovernment violence: Ba’th Party membership or about Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass affiliation with Saddam’s regime, adherence to Islam, or tribal interests, values, and destruction in September 2002 before the House norms.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Sectarian Threat in the Middle East?
    Volume 89 Number 868 December 2007 A new sectarian threat in the Middle East? Joost Hiltermann Joost Hiltermann is deputy programme director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group. Abstract A Shiite resurgence in Iraq has generated a region-wide Sunni backlash, raising fears of an emerging sectarian rift that is colouring and aggravating local conflicts. After discussing the schism’s origins, manifestations and implications, the author concludes that the primary battle in the region is not between Sunnis and Shiites but between the United States and Iran. A US–Iranian rapprochement would do much to reduce sectarian tensions, while the most effective long-term response to sectarianism itself will likely come from systemic restraints that exist in the form of countervailing loyalties that prevent any single allegiance, such as religious adherence, from becoming paramount. A growing sectarian rift? Much has been made of new and dangerous Sunni–Shiite divisions in the Middle East, a virulent political resurgence of this ancient schism in Islam. It threatens to undermine an atrophying state system that was built on feeble national identities and has been dangerously weakened by the illegitimacy of prolonged autocratic rule. The Shiite ascendance in post-invasion Iraq is seen as having emboldened Shiite populations throughout the region in a Shiite ‘‘revival’’ that feeds on centuries of discrimination and suppression of culture and religious rituals. This has generated a Sunni backlash and is prompting fears of instability in Arab lands (for example Shiite majorities ruling Iraq and seeking power in Bahrain) and actual separatism in the case of the Shiite population of Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province.
    [Show full text]
  • NYPD Vs. Revolution Muslim
    Combating Terrorism Center at West Point Objective • Relevant • Rigorous | April 2018 • Volume 11, Issue 4 FEATURE ARTICLE A VIEW FROM THE CT FOXHOLE Five Years After the NYPD vs. Revolution Muslim Boston Marathon Bombing The inside story of how the NYPD defeated the radicalization hub Jesse Morton and Mitchell Silber William Weinreb and Harold Shaw FEATURE ARTICLE Editor in Chief 1 NYPD vs. Revolution Muslim: The Inside Story of the Defeat of a Local Radicalization Hub Paul Cruickshank Jesse Morton and Mitchell Silber Managing Editor INTERVIEW Kristina Hummel 8 A View from the CT Foxhole: Five Years After the Boston Marathon Bombing EDITORIAL BOARD Nicholas Tallant Colonel Suzanne Nielsen, Ph.D. ANALYSIS Department Head Dept. of Social Sciences (West Point) 15 The Islamic State's Lingering Legacy among Young Men from the Mosul Area Scott Atran, Hoshang Waziri, Ángel Gómez, Hammad Sheikh, Lucía Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Price, Ph.D. López-Rodríguez, Charles Rogan, and Richard Davis Director, CTC 23 Challenging the ISK Brand in Afghanistan-Pakistan: Rivalries and Divided Loyalties Brian Dodwell Amira Jadoon, Nakissa Jahanbani, and Charmaine Willis Deputy Director, CTC 30 The British Hacker Who Became the Islamic State's Chief Terror Cyber- Coach: A Profile of Junaid Hussain CONTACT Nafees Hamid Combating Terrorism Center U.S. Military Academy Between 2006 and 2012, two men working on opposite sides of the strug- 607 Cullum Road, Lincoln Hall gle between global jihadis and the United States faced of in New York City. Jesse Morton was the founder of Revolution Muslim, a group that prosely- West Point, NY 10996 tized—online and on New York City streets—on behalf of al-Qa`ida.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding the Sunni Awakening with Complexity Theory
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Publications 2016 Understanding the Sunni Awakening with Complexity Theory Diane Maye Zorri Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/publication Part of the Defense and Security Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Scholarly Commons Citation Zorri, D. M. (2016). Understanding the Sunni Awakening with Complexity Theory. Digest of Middle East Studies, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12077 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Understanding the Sunni Realignment in Iraq with Complexity Theory Diane L. Maye, PhD Henley-Putnam University Santa Clara, California Abstract Concurrent to the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq between 2006 and 2008, Sunni tribesmen in the U.S. Marine-controlled western Anbar province of Iraq experienced an “awakening” movement, which led them to side with U.S. and coalition forces. The Sunni Awakening demonstrates that individuals will often realign because of betrayal and opportunities for advancement. It also demonstrates that individual motives can have macrolevel social consequences. Complexity theory suggests that political factions will realign based on individual considerations that then develop into macrolevel movements. Complexity theory also combines both agency (in terms of microbehaviors) and structure (in terms of initial conditions).
    [Show full text]
  • From Militant Secularism to Islamism: the Iraqi Ba’Th Regime 1968-2003 by Amatzia Baram, October 2011
    HISTORY AND PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER From Militant Secularism to Islamism: The Iraqi Ba’th Regime 1968-2003 By Amatzia Baram, October 2011 From Militant Secularism to Islamism: 1 The Iraqi Ba’th Regime 1968-2003 On a hot summer day in 1986 Saddam Hussein convened in Baghdad an emergency closed-door meeting of the Pan-Arab Leadership (al-qiyadah al-qawmiyyah, PAL), the Ba’th regime’s highest ideological institution. In the meeting he presented to the party’s luminaries a momentous U-turn in Iraq’s foreign policy. This U-turn had potentially profound ramifications for the regime’s domestic policy, party ideology and identity. Saddam, by then President of Iraq and Deputy Secretary General of the Pan-Arab Leadership (Secretary General Michel ‘Aflaq was absent, possibly intentionally not invited), suggested a truce and even some tacit alliance with the Sudanese and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB). 2 This policy shift meant that, for the first time in its history, the militantly secular Ba’th party would cease to attack and would even tolerate the Islamists. Until then, the Islamists – Sunnis as well as Shi’is - were the Ba’this’ staunchest enemies.3 Indeed, in 1986 Iraq was conducting an existential war against an Islamist regime: Khomeini’s Iran. The 1986 PAL meeting and decision were secret, and remained this way for a while, but Saddam’s policy shifts eventually became public. Cooperation with the Syrian MB dates back to at least since 1982, but it required no meaningful modification of either party policy or ideology. Following the Hamah massacre of September of that year the Syrian MB were weak and totally dependent on Iraqi support against the Ba’th regime of Hafiz al-Asad in Damascus.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding ISIS: from Conception to Operations
    AUGUST 2017 Understanding ISIS: From Conception to Operations KABIR TANEJA Understanding ISIS: From Conception to Operations KABIR TANEJA ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kabir Taneja is an Associate Fellow with ORF's Strategic Studies programme. His primary research interest is India's relations with West Asia. He studies domestic political dynamics, terrorism, non-state militant actors, and the general security paradigm of the region. Kabir has previously held positions as a Researcher and Fellow with the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany), Fridtjof Nansen Institute (Norway), and Takshashila Institution (India). He holds a Bachelor's degree from La Trobe University, Melbourne, and a Master's degree from Cardiff University, United Kingdom. Kabir has written for various publications, including The New York Times, The Hindu, Suddeutsche Zeitung, The Huffington Post, Politico, Quartz, and The Wire. ISBN : 978-81-935340-2-1 © 2017 Observer Research Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from ORF. Understanding ISIS: From Conception to Operations ABSTRACT This paper bridges the gap in Indian public discourse on the aims of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Islamic State) and where it stands today as the most formidable terrorist organisation of the 21st century. It explores ISIS from the perspective of the Middle East, rather than coming from an Indian foreign policy and security point of view, of which there is no dearth in literature. Such an approach is crucial in understanding the terrorist organisation and dissecting its hierarchical structures, operational mettle, and territorial conquest, as well as in examining its different approaches in Iraq and Syria and its unprecedented use of online media propaganda to further its cause beyond geographical borders.
    [Show full text]
  • The Islamic State As State-Building by Alexander Kfoury Senior Thesis DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Introduction
    3/19/2016 The Islamic State as State-Building By Alexander Kfoury Senior Thesis DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Introduction The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), is at the center of the 21st century’s most destructive physical conflicts, and it also occupies a special place in one of the 21st century’s most troubling ideological conflicts. It is natural, then, that public discourse surrounding this group is often inseparable from the variety of emotions that these wider conflicts evoke in us. Yet, it is precisely ISIS’s far-reaching relevance to the most difficult events of our time which necessitates a clear-eyed, objective analysis of this notorious group. Such an analysis is what I hope to present in this thesis. The Islamic State has shocked the world on multiple accounts. It emerged from the abyss of civil conflict in two separate countries and cast its ominous flag of extremism over a swathe of territory which, at its peak, was comparable in size to the United Kingdom. It brought unspeakable acts of violence to people’s computer screens across the globe, and then brought people from across the globe to their front lines to commit even more atrocities. It professed war on all so-called infidels, infiltrated foreign countries and committed massacres without warning, although these paled in comparison to the massacres they committed on their own home turf. The psychological effects of ISIS’s power displays have been astounding, producing waves of anti- Islam backlash in countries which in reality have little to fear from an armed faction unable to handily defeat its own rebel competitors and two teetering third-world regime.
    [Show full text]
  • Hisba in Mosul: Systematic Oppression in the Name of Virtue
    February 2016 Occasional Paper Hisba in Mosul: Systematic Oppression in the Name of Virtue Rasha Al Aqeedi Program on Extremism The Program on Extremism at George Washington University provides analysis on issues related to violent and non-violent extremism. The Program spearheads innovative and thoughtful academic inquiry, producing empirical work that strengthens extremism research as a distinct field of study. The Program aims to develop pragmatic policy solutions that resonate with policymakers, civic leaders, and the general public. About the Author Rasha Al Aqeedi is Rasha Al Aqeedi is a fellow at Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with a primary focus on Iraq and Islamism. She is feature analyst for Inside Iraqi Politics, and a contributing writer to The American Interest and UAE's The National. Al Aqeedi is a native of Mosul, Iraq. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Program on Extremism or the George Washington University. 1 Executive Summary Following the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s overt military surge on June 10, 2014, which took over Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, a strict interpretation of Shari’ah was imposed on the locals. “Diwan Al-Hisba”—Chamber of Morality Police—was immediately established and soon took on an organized form. Hisba members were deployed in public venues such as markets, parks, and even schools where they sought out violations of the religious code and imposed penalties varying from fines for minor misdemeanors, to execution in more severe cases.
    [Show full text]
  • READ Middle East Brief 87 (PDF)
    Judith and Sidney Swartz Director and Professor of Politics ISIS in Iraq: What We Get Wrong and Shai Feldman Associate Director Why 2015 Is Not 2007 Redux Kristina Cherniahivsky Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor David Siddhartha Patel of Middle East History and Associate Director for Research Naghmeh Sohrabi Senior Fellow n September 10, 2014, President Barack Obama outlined Abdel Monem Said Aly, PhD Othe inchoate U.S. strategy to “degrade and ultimately Goldman Senior Fellow destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL [the Islamic State Khalil Shikaki, PhD in Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or the Islamic Myra and Robert Kraft Professor 1 of Arab Politics State].” At the core of that strategy, in both Iraq and Syria, is Eva Bellin a systematic campaign of air strikes against ISIS, coupled with Henry J. Leir Professor of the support for local “partner forces” fighting ISIS on the ground. Economics of the Middle East Nader Habibi Subsequent analysis and policy attention have focused largely on the campaign in Syria. This is partly due to the challenge Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies of identifying effective local partner forces in the midst of the Kanan Makiya complex Syrian civil war. But it is also because U.S. policy Neubauer Junior Research Fellow Sarah El-Kazaz, PhD makers tend to believe that they understand Iraq, after having occupied the country for more than eight years. Junior Research Fellows Hikmet Kocamaner, PhD Asher Orkaby, PhD I argue that several assumptions or conventional understandings that are David Siddhartha Patel, PhD guiding U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Viral Jihad: a Genealogy of Al-Qaeda and ISIS' Propaganda
    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2021 Viral Jihad: A Genealogy of al-Qaeda and ISIS' Propaganda Renee Perper Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the International Relations Commons, and the Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons Recommended Citation Perper, Renee, "Viral Jihad: A Genealogy of al-Qaeda and ISIS' Propaganda" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2694. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2694 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Viral Jihad: A Genealogy of al-Qaeda and ISIS’ Propaganda Submitted to: Heather Ferguson & Hicham Bou Nassif By: Renee Perper For Senior Thesis Two Semester Thesis March 3, 2021 Abstract: For the past twenty years, the United States has been at war. Yet, while invocations of war often evoke images of soldiers on the battlefield, the war the U.S. has been fighting looks far different. In the past two decades, the U.S. has attempted to curb the impact of terrorist organizations’ media usage. This paper explores the genealogy of that media battle through a case study of al-Qaeda and ISIS’ media apparatuses. It argues that, often overlooked, is the role that media plays as a foundational element in both groups’ organizational structures. Moreover, this paper will demonstrate how ISIS has expounded on the success of al-Qaeda’s media strategy, thereby creating an online caliphate. Ultimately, this paper will conclude that new strategies and ways of thinking about the war on terror will need to be developed in for the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Discourse and Emotion in Sustaining Violent Social Movements During Military Occupations: Iraq, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Territories
    DISCOURSE AND EMOTION IN SUSTAINING VIOLENT SOCIAL MOVEMENTS DURING MILITARY OCCUPATIONS: IRAQ, NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Government By Irena L. Sargsyan, MA Washington, DC 5 May 2016 Copyright 2016 by Irena L. Sargsyan. All Rights Reserved. ii DISCOURSE AND EMOTION IN SUSTAINING VIOLENT SOCIAL MOVEMENTS DURING MILITARY OCCUPATIONS: IRAQ, NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES Irena L. Sargsyan, MA Dissertation Adviser: Andrew Bennett, PhD ABSTRACT Why do violent social movements rise or fail during military occupations? How are some leaders able to overcome the problem of collective action and sustain violent campaigns that require voluntary, risky actions, but others are not? Why are only some leaders effective in achieving political objectives through sustained collective violence? In Iraq (2003–11), how was Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist Trend, able to muster a violent militia and vast popular support and thereby become a potent political player? Why did the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq fail to maintain its influence, and why did Al Qaeda in Iraq gain and then lose the ability to mobilize violence in the same period? Similarly puzzling variations in the outcomes of violent collective action have been observed elsewhere. In Northern Ireland (1969–98), how did the Provisional Irish Republican Army outstrip the Official Irish Republican Army in sustaining collective violence? In the Palestinian territories (1987–2015), how did Hamas defeat its established rival Fatah and transform itself into a highly organized political and social movement with a capacity for lethal terrorism? iii I argue that favorable microstructural conditions and emotional appeals from credible leaders with legitimacy among domestic audiences are necessary and jointly sufficient to sustain violent collective action.
    [Show full text]
  • The Roots of Evil Abdullah Abdul Amir
    Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies The Roots of Evil Abdullah Abdul Amir Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies Publications Series About Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies is an independent, nonprofit think tank based in Baghdad, Iraq. Its primary mission is to offer an authentic perspective on public policy issues related to Iraq and the neighboring region. Al-Bayan pursues its vision by conducting autonomous analysis, as well as proposing workable solutions for complex issues that concern academia and policymakers. The opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent the views of the center Copyright © 2016 www.bayancenter.org [email protected] Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies The Roots of Evil Abdullah Abdul Amir * Introduction The Baath regime, which ruled Iraq through 1968-2003, wasn’t one that was known to have embraced Islam as an ideology or take it as an important source for its values. The regime has most often been described as a secular one of a singular directive approach to establish a totalitarian regime that adopts centralisation and cruelty in power. But it is apparent that the nineties of the last century witnessed the ruling regime moving towards the integration of some Islamic ideas within its control instruments and command tactics exerted by the Baath Party to prove its isolated rule from the Iraqi society. Regardless of the reasons that prompted the regime to adopt such a strategy, which was centered on the so-called “major national faith campaign”, the effects of this campaign and the repercussions of its effects are still fastened until this day in Iraq and the region.
    [Show full text]