Editing Ba'ath Party (section)

==History==
{{main|History of the Ba'ath Party}}
The party was founded on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party by [[Michel Aflaq]] (an [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch|Antiochian Orthodox]] [[Christians|Christian]]), [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar]] (a [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Muslim]]), and the followers of [[Zaki al-Arsuzi]] (an [[Alawites|Alawite]] who later became an atheist) in [[Damascus]], Syria, leading to the establishment of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Regional Branch]].{{sfn|George|2003|p=66}} Other regional branches were established throughout the Arab world in the later 1940s and early 1950s, in, among others, [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region|Iraq]],{{sfn|Polk|2006|p=109}} [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Yemen Region|Yemen]] and [[Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party|Jordan]].{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=98}} Throughout its existence, the National Command (the body responsible for all-Arab affairs) gave most attention to Syrian affairs.{{sfn|George|2003|p=66}} The 2nd National Congress was convened in June 1954 and elected a seven-man National Command; Aflaq, Bitar, and [[Akram al-Hourani]] were elected and represented the Syrian Regional Branch,{{sfn|Reich|1990|p=10}} while [[Abdullah Rimawi]] and Abdallah Na'was were elected to represent the Jordanian Branch.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=231}} The 1954 congress is notable for sanctioning the merger of the [[Arab Socialist Movement]] and the Ba'ath Party, which took place in 1952.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=65}}

The Syrian Regional Branch rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s; in the [[1954 Syrian parliamentary election|1954 parliamentary elections]] the Syrian Regional Branch won 22 seats in parliament, becoming the second largest party in the country.{{sfn|Kaylani|1972|p=15}} 90 percent of Ba'ath Party members who stood for elections were elected to parliament.{{sfn|Kaylani|1972|p=15}} The failure of the traditional parties, represented by the [[People's Party (Syria)|People's Party]] and the [[National Party (Syria)|National Party]], strengthened the Ba'ath Party's public credibility.{{sfn|Kaylani|1972|p=16}} Through this position, the party was able to get two of its members into the cabinet; Bitar was appointed [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates (Syria)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] and Khalil Kallas became Minister of Economics.{{sfn|Kaylani|1972|p=19}} Its new, strengthened position was used successfully to garner support for Syria's merger with [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]'s Egypt, which led to the establishment of the [[United Arab Republic]] (UAR) in 1958.{{sfn|Kaylani|1972|pp=19–21}}
[[File:President_Gamal_Abdul_Nasser_with_Baath_Party_founders_Michel_Aflaq_and_Salah_al-Bitar_in_1958.jpg|thumb|240x240px|[[Michel Aflaq]] (left) and [[Salah al-Din al-Bitar|Salah al-Din Bitar]] (right) with Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] (centre) in 1958. The three leaders were prime advocates for a [[Arab Union|pan-Arab union]]]]
On 24 June 1959, [[Fuad al-Rikabi]], the Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Regional Branch, accused the National Command of betraying Arab nationalist principles by conspiring against the UAR.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=271}} In light of these criticisms, the Ba'ath convened the 3rd National Congress, held 27 August–1 September 1959, attended by delegates from Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, South Arabia, the Gulf, "Arab South", "Arab Maghreb", Palestine, and Party student organisations in Arab and other universities.{{sfn|Ministry of Information|1971|p=33}} The congress is notable for endorsing the dissolution of the Syrian Regional Branch, which had been decided by Aflaq and Bitar without inner-party consultation in 1958,{{sfn|Podeh|1999|p=219}} and for expelling Rimawi, the Regional Secretary of the Jordanian Regional Branch.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=497}} Rimawi reacted to his expulsion by forming his own party, the [[Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party]], which established a rival National Command to compete with the original.{{sfn|Anderson|2005|p=203}} The National Command responded to the problems in Iraq by appointing a Temporary Regional Command on 2 February 1960, which appointed [[Talib El-Shibib]] as Regional Secretary,{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=271}} and on 15 June 1961 the National Command expelled Rikabi from the party.{{sfn|Oron|1960|p=271}}

In Iraq, the Iraqi Regional Branch had supported [[Abdul-Karim Qasim]]'s seizure of power and its ensuing abolishment of the Iraqi Monarchy.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} The Iraqi Ba'athists supported Qasim on the grounds that they believed he would enter Iraq into the UAR, enlarging the Arab nationalist republic.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} However, this was proven to be a ruse, and after taking power, Qasim launched an Iraq first policy.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=24–25}} In retaliation, the Ba'ath Party tried to assassinate Qasim in February 1959, but the operation, involving a young [[Saddam Hussein]], failed.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=29}} Qasim was overthrown in the [[Ramadan Revolution]] led by young Ba'athist officer [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]]; long suspected to be supported by the American [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA),{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=40}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wolfe-Hunnicutt|first=B.|date=2015-01-01|title=Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'etat in Baghdad|url=https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/dh/dht121|journal=Diplomatic History|language=en|volume=39|issue=1|pages=98–125|doi=10.1093/dh/dht121|issn=0145-2096|quote=While scholars and journalists have long suspected that the CIA was involved in the 1963 coup, as yet, there is very little archival analysis of the question. The most comprehensive study put forward thus far finds "mounting evidence of U.S. involvement" but ultimately runs up against the problem of available documentation.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> however pertinent contemporary documents relating to the CIA's operations in Iraq have remained classified by the U.S. government,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wolfe-Hunnicutt|first=Brandon|title=The Paranoid Style in American Diplomacy: Oil and Arab Nationalism in Iraq|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2021|isbn=978-1-5036-1382-9|location=|page=117|quote=What really happened in Iraq in February 1963 remains shrouded behind a veil of official secrecy. Many of the most relevant documents remain classified. Others were destroyed. And still others were never created in the first place.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Matthews|first=Weldon C.|date=9 November 2011|title=The Kennedy Administration, Counterinsurgency, and Iraq's First Ba'thist Regime|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/kennedy-administration-counterinsurgency-and-iraqs-first-bathist-regime/B4DA680E1CD37E8293DCEE8788C7C826|journal=[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]]|language=en|volume=43|issue=4|pages=635–653|doi=10.1017/S0020743811000882|s2cid=159490612|issn=1471-6380|quote=Archival sources on the U.S. relationship with this regime are highly restricted. Many records of the Central Intelligence Agency's operations and the Department of Defense from this period remain classified, and some declassified records have not been transferred to the National Archives or cataloged.|access-date=30 July 2023|archive-date=3 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703150509/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/kennedy-administration-counterinsurgency-and-iraqs-first-bathist-regime/B4DA680E1CD37E8293DCEE8788C7C826|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> although the Iraqi Ba'athists are documented to have maintained supportive relationships with U.S. officials before, during, and after the coup.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Matthews|first=Weldon C.|date=9 November 2011|title=The Kennedy Administration, Counterinsurgency, and Iraq's First Ba'thist Regime|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0020743811000882/type/journal_article|journal=[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]]|language=en|volume=43|issue=4|pages=635–653|doi=10.1017/S0020743811000882|s2cid=159490612|issn=0020-7438|quote=[Kennedy] Administration officials viewed the Iraqi Ba'th Party in 1963 as an agent of counterinsurgency directed against Iraqi communists, and they cultivated supportive relationships with Ba'thist officials, police commanders, and members of the Ba'th Party militia. The American relationship with militia members and senior police commanders had begun even before the February coup, and Ba'thist police commanders involved in the coup had been trained in the United States.|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wolfe-Hunnicutt|first=B.|date=2015-01-01|title=Embracing Regime Change in Iraq: American Foreign Policy and the 1963 Coup d'etat in Baghdad|url=https://academic.oup.com/dh/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/dh/dht121|journal=Diplomatic History|language=en|volume=39|issue=1|pages=98–125|doi=10.1093/dh/dht121|issn=0145-2096|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Iraqi Regional Branch, when it took power, was so riven by factionalism that its purported allies launched a counter-coup forcing them out of power in November 1963.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=44–46}}

The 4th National Congress, held in August 1960, criticized the leadership of Aflaq and Bitar, called for the reestablishment of the Syrian Regional Branch and deemphasized the party's commitment to [[Arab nationalism]] while emphasizing more the socialist character of the party.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=66}}{{sfn|Rabinovich|1972|p=24}} A year later, during the UAR's nadir in Syria, the Syrian General [[Abdul Karim al-Nahlawi]] launched [[1961 Syrian coup d'état|a coup on 28 September 1961]], which led to the reestablishment of the Syrian Arab Republic.<ref name="USDoS">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm|title=Background Note: Syria|work=[[United States Department of State]], Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs|date=May 2007|access-date=8 August 2013|archive-date=21 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121022641/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Rule in Syria, infighting, the 1966 coup and split: 1963–1966===
The challenges of building a Ba'athist state led to considerable ideological discussion and internal struggle within the party.{{sfn|DeFronzo|2009|p=61}} The Iraqi Regional Branch was increasingly dominated by self-described [[Marxism|Marxist]] [[Ali Salih al-Sa'di]].{{sfn|DeFronzo|2009|p=61}} Al-Sa'di was supported in his ideological reorientation by [[Hammud al-Shufi]], the Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Branch;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Westley|first1=F.C.|title=A weekly review of politics, literature, theology, and art.|journal=[[The Spectator]]|date=1964|volume=212|pages=473|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciQ-AQAAIAAJ&q=shoufi}}</ref> Yasin al-Hafiz, one of the party's few ideological theorists; and by certain members of the secret Military Committee.{{sfn|Seale|1990|p=87}} The Marxist wing gained new ground at the 6th National Congress (held in October 1963), in which the Iraqi and Syrian regional branches called for the establishment of "socialist planning",{{sfn|Ali|2004|p=105}} "[[Collective farming|collective farms]] run by peasants", "workers' democratic control of the means of production", and other demands reflecting a certain emulation of [[Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet-style socialism]].{{sfn|Hiro|1982|p=143}} Aflaq, angry at this transformation of his party, retained a nominal leadership role, but the National Command as a whole came under the control of the radicals.{{sfn|Ali|2004|pp=106–107}}

In 1963, the Ba'ath Party [[1963 Syrian coup d'état|seized power]] in Syria, and from then on the Ba'ath functioned as the only officially recognized Syrian political party, but factionalism and splintering within the party led to a succession of varying governments and new constitutions.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=55}} On 23 February 1966, [[1966 Syrian coup d'état|a coup d'état]] led by [[Salah Jadid]], the informal head of the Military Committee, overthrew Aflaq and Bitar's cabinet.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=59}} The coup sprung out of factional rivalry between Jadid's "regionalist" (qutri) camp, which promoted ambitions for a [[Syria (region)|Greater Syria]], and the more traditionally [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab]] faction then in power, the "nationalist" (qawmi) faction.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=59}} Jadid's supporters were considered to have been more left-wing then Aflaq and his peers.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=213}} Several of Jadid's opponents managed to make their escape, and they fled to [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]].{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=59}} Jadid moved the party in a more radical direction. Although he and his supporters had not signed onto the victorious far-left line at the 6th Party Congress, they had now moved to adopt its positions.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=213}} The moderate faction, formerly led by Aflaq and al-Bitar, were purged from the party.{{sfn|Federal Research Division|2004|p=213}}

While it took some years, the 1966 coup resulted in the creation of two competing National Commands, [[Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction)|one Syrian-dominated]] and another [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)|Iraqi-dominated]].{{sfn|Ali|2004|pp=106–107}} However, both in Iraq and Syria, the Regional Command became the real centre of party power, and the membership of the National Command became a largely honorary position, often the destination of figures being eased out of the leadership.{{sfn|Ali|2004|pp=106–107}} One consequence of the split was that [[Zaki al-Arsuzi]] took Aflaq's place as the official father of [[ba'athism|Ba'athist thought]] in the pro-Syrian Ba'ath movement, while the pro-Iraqi Ba'ath movement still considered Aflaq the ''[[de jure]]'' father of Ba'athist thought.{{sfn|Bengio|1998|p=218}}