The Syrian Baath Party and former Iraqi Baath Party are NOT the same

[Zainab_M]

It's a common misconception by many, mostly the supporters of the treacherous and ghadar Sunni governments who are helping the imperialists and Zionists to topple Bashar al-Assad that Assad is a "Marxist" and a "socialist" and therefore he is a "disbeliever."  This propaganda is being allowed to grow to fool the people as it benefits the governments of Saudi Arabia and Turkey who are training the murderous insurgents to invade Syria in order to install an Israel-friendly Sunni-Wahabi government there.   

Secondly, many Wahabi propagandists are also insinuating the pathetically WRONG idea that the Ba'ath Party of Syria is the same as Saddam's former Ba'ath Party of Iraq which fought an 8-year-old war against Iran.  This is another big LIE.

Here is the clarification and the truth. 

The history of the Ba'ath Party is very long with plenty of political details that culminate to tell us the two very diverse courses taken by the Syrian and Iraqi Ba'ath Parties with the passage of time.  I will summarize that history for the convenience of our readers so that this reading isn't too time consuming for them but at the same time they get to know the facts and subsequently reject the false propaganda about Assad being a "socialist" and the Syrian Ba'ath Party being the same as that of Iraq.

The Ba'ath Party was founded in mid 1940s by a Christian, a Sunni Muslim and an Alawite Shiia in Syria under the name "Arab Baath Party" representing pan-Arabism, an ideology which became increasingly popular in the Arab world after WW2.  It was basically an Arab socialist movement, albeit socialism of its own kind with predominantly Arab characteristics.  In 1950s the Ba'ath Movement merged with the Arab Socialist Party establishing the 'Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party' in Lebanon. It was this party which passionately supported Gamal Abdel Nasser's pan-Arab policies in the 1950s.  After the establishment of the Arab Ba'ath Party in Syria in the 1940s, Ba'athist ideas began getting very popular in much of the Arab world. Rise of the Ba'ath Party led to considerable internal struggle. The Iraqi branch of the Ba'ath party led by Ali Saleh al-Sadi declared itself a Marxist and began drifting toward the hardline-left demanding 'socialist planning.'  In 1965 there was a bloody coup led by hardline left-wing extremists of the Ba'ath party based in Iraq which overthrew the Syrian government. Many of the moderate Ba'athists based in Syria fled to Lebanon. But they gradually returned and re-grouped. It was from this point onward that the Damascus-based Ba'ath Party and the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party became two completely separate organizations with very different policies. 

Everyone knows that the policies of Assad's government have done well in keeping Syria economically stable and providing satisfactorily to the common citizens of Syria.  At the same time there is freedom of faith for everyone.  Sunnis, Shiias and Christians are all permitted to follow their faith with complete freedom.   For decades Shiias, Sunnis and Christians have been living in Syria in total harmony.   Unlike many other countries, there has not been a single incidence of violence or rioting in Syria between the Shiias and Sunni nor the Muslims and Christians. 

I request our Sunni brethren around the world to open their eyes, think on truthful lines and reject the CIA-friendly propaganda being circulated by the Sunni Arab & Turkish governments and the Sunni imams to discredit Bashar al-Assad.  Both the CIA and Sunni governments have their own selfish motives involved in this scheme.  The CIA wants to break the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah block and install an Israeli-friendly puppet like in other parts of the Arab world.  The Sunni governments, being jealous of the efficiency, courage and strength of the Syria-Iran-Hezbollah resistance against the Zionists, want to install a gutless and treacherous Wahabi puppet government which will hate Iran and Hezbollah and serve the interest of Israel and America as in other parts of the Arab world.