Word: baathist
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...becomes more chaotic, so does its international position. The surprise Iranian offensive against Iraq that began on July 13 has been repulsed, creating an unprecedented crisis of morale on the home front. Iranian army officers blame the failure of the military thrust, which was designed to bring down the Baathist regime of Iraqi
...plan discussed in Damascus and elsewhere calls for Saddam Hussein's replacement within about 90 days by someone who has both military and Baathist party credentials. Among the candidates: Ahmed Hassan Bakr, former President of Iraq (1968-79), who shared power with Saddam Hussein for several years and was finally replaced by him in July 1979. Thus power would remain in the hands of the politically dominant Sunni Muslims. But as a gesture to Shi'ite Muslims, who make up 60% of the Iraqi population, as well as to Ayatullah Khomeini, the Muslim world's ranking...
...only regional Arab state to support Iran was Syria. Relations between the two Baathist regimes in Baghdad and Damascus have long been antagonistic; Syrian President Hafez Assad is known to believe that dissident elements within his country are backed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq. Like Iran, Syria views the gulf war as an American-backed plot that could lead to its encirclement by conservative Arab forces. Thus the war has intensified Syria's already nearly paranoiac feeling of isolation. Assad, who in the past has rejected any formal treaty links with the Soviet Union, is scheduled to visit...
...regimes were busy attacking not only each other but the U.S. as well. The Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, the stridently abrasive spiritual leader of Iran's revolution, called for international help in opposing "Zionist Iraq and the U.S." At the same time, the official newspaper of Iraq's Baathist ruling party blamed Iran's unruly actions on "the U.S., international Zionism, the Sadat regime and all the signatories to the Camp David accords...
...vulnerable to such pressure. In the first place, its political and military leadership is largely Sunni Muslim, while over half of Iraq's 12.8 million people are Shi'ite Muslims who share a sense of community with their religious brethren in Iran. Moreover, the Baghdad regime is Baathist, and the Baath Party, both in Iraq and Syria, favors secularism, social reconstruction and economic development. To make matters worse, Iran has reportedly been inciting the Kurds in northern Iraq to rebel against Baghdad. For their part, the Iranians suspect that the current border troubles are being aggravated by Iranian...