It appears too soon to claim that the Iraqi people have recovered from the era when the Baath party and Saddam Hussein used to rule their country. Sixteen years after the US invasion that ousted Saddam and his ruling regime, the people are still sensitive about that era in their history.
Despite this, some Iraqis often bring up the Baath and Saddam on various occasions, prompting political Islam parties, including the Dawa, to remind them of the dangers of the return of the Baath to power. The Baath has been banned from Iraq and anyone promoting its ideas could face up to 15 years in jail.
This has not deterred some people from recalling Saddam and praising his years in power. The praise is often based on comparing the current situation in Iraq to the way it was before the 2003 US invasion.
The latest such praise saw pilot, Ahmed Saad, of glorify the Baath. Social media had circulated a response the pilot had made to a comment in which he said: “Rest in peace Abu Uday (meaning Saddam) and others who fended off the Wilayet al-Faqih.”
Saad did not issue a statement to confirm or deny his comment, but he will likely face some form of penalty after the military authorities review his case.
His comment had prompted outcry from the martyrs and prisoners committee, which had demanded that he be held accountable for his actions.
The committee represents people who were killed or imprisoned during the Baath era.
Head of the committee and leading member of the Dawa party Khalaf Abulsamad addressed a memo to the Defense Ministry, urging it to take action against Saad for “glorifying the Baath party on his Facebook page.”
In the southern Dhi Qar province, a poet, Salah al-Harbawi had caused similar uproar when he composed a poem that glorifies Saddam. He was inspired to write it after the visit to Iraq in December by US President Donald Trump. He recited the poem during a commemoration of the death of a member of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces, sparking outrage among the gatherers and applause from others.
Poet Aqil al-Aard told Asharq Al-Awsat that Harbawi’s poem “lacked awareness”. He explained that he had sought to compare between the pre- and post-Baath eras.
“He did not intent to praise Saddam,” he added.
Dawa party member Qassem Mohammed Jabbar attributed the frequent lauding of the Baath and Saddam to the authorities’ failure to strictly apply the law that bans the party.
The Dawa, which boasted three prime ministers since 2003, is the Iraqi party that is most paranoid about the return of the Baath to the political scene.
Jabbar told Asharq Al-Awsat that just last week, some political powers attempted to name some candidates from the banned party to assume positions in the Foreign Ministry.
He demanded that the people behind such suspicious activity be held accountable.
He acknowledged that the Dawa is worried about the Baath’s return to the scene given the bad history between the two parties. He added, however, that other social segments have recently formed a parliamentary front, which includes Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni lawmakers, to counter the reemergence of the Baath party.
