Bring back the Baathists in Iraq

[Onlooker]

The unfortunate thing is that in the Middle East, the Baathists, or the socialists, are the most progressive group at least in terms of their philosophy. The philosophy has many sympathizers in the Middle East, though has grown weaker thanks to corrupt leaders like Saddam Hussein. That said, even Saddam, despite his personal corruption and criminal style, put together a fairly modern society with women enjoying relatively equal rights and a developed economy at least in terms of health and education. Also the Baathists, being mostly secular, are the logical opposition to the theocratic regimes of the area.

Early on, the U.S. (under Reagan) made overtures to the Baathists, at the same time knowing that they were a threat to the US because of their socialist beliefs, because they advocated Arab nationalism, and because they would not cede to Western demands on a number of issues. Further complicating matters, Saddam's corruption gave cover to Bush I to begin dismantling Iraq.

That said, if the choice Islamo-fascists or Baathists, the Baathists are better. They have many moderates in their ranks, and want to modernize the Middle East rather than maintain the sort of feudal religious systems that now exists. They are the more worldly, more educated, and liberal ones with regard to human rights, and possibly they can reclaim some of their ideals now that we've destroyed much of Saddam's corrupt leadership.

I think the Baathist Party should be legalized again in Iraq and we should make overtures to Syria, and see if anything good can come out of that. At the very least, that would make our religious allies very nervous and might prompt them to sit down together.

If we took these steps, we would change the dynamic in Iraq, which might create some new opportunities for dialog. This could set the stage for a peacekeeping force made up of the less religious Arab states, including Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and some of the smaller ones, and it could help us return the region to the pre-invasion state when Iraq helped keep Iran in line.