Publication

With the fall of Saddam Hussain in 2003, many former high-ranking members of the Baath Party joined Islamic groups intent on fighting the US occupation of Iraq. This paper questions the belief articulated in some Western newspapers that secularist Ba'athist ideology therefore has had an influence on the activities and ideology of the so-called Islamic State's (IS) leaders. The author argues that, in fact, these officers, although formerly trained in Saddam Hussein’s secular-nationalistic regime, aren’t necessarily as secular as many people believe them to be and that many were highly religious before joining Saddam’s military, but conformed to Ba’athist norms for the sake of their military careers.