Almost as Surprising as Islamic State’s Explosive Growth: Its Baath Military Leadership

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/russ-wellen/57945/almost-as-surprising-as-islamic-state-s-explosive-growth-its-baath-military-leadership

Almost as Surprising as Islamic State’s Explosive Growth: Its Baath Military Leadership
Iraq
by Russ Wellen | August 29, 2014 - 7:55am

The spirit of Saddam Hussein lives on in the Islamic State.

At the New York Times, Ben Hubbard and Eric Schmitt report that Islamic State (which the Times still calls ISIS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi “handpicked many of his deputies from among the men he met while a prisoner in American custody at the Camp Bucca detention center a decade ago.” They continue:

~snip~

Michael Knights of the conservative Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Hubbard and Schmitt that “it was no surprise that so many officers from Mr. Hussein’s era had joined ISIS. Discontent in the military was widespread near the end of his rule, and underground Islamist movements were gaining strength, even inside the military.

In other words, the Middle East is still suffering the effects of Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2 issued by CPA administrator Paul Bremmer and the Defense Department, which ordered the Iraqi military Saddam Hussein disbanded.

[CJCRANE]

1. I sense some subtle rewriting of history there.

"It was no surprise that so many officers from Mr. Hussein’s era had joined ISIS. Discontent in the military was widespread near the end of his rule, and underground Islamist movements were gaining strength, even inside the military."

IMO that's total BS.

The Baathists found religion after they were toppled from power and sent into the wilderness (many of them to prison).

[Turbineguy]

2. The neocon de-Baathification project.

The PNAC people believe that actions never have undesired consequences.

[CanonRay]

3. This is the Army that Paul Bremer "disbanded"

Did we think they'd just disappear? They're baaaaaack.

[bemildred]

4. Right, hell of a shock. nt

[Laelth]

5. Precisely.

We were stupid to disband the Iraqi military. Its leaders were going to go somewhere. We left a vacuum. IS filled it. That's where a lot of Saddam's supporters are now. They're working for IS and not Shiite Iraq.

-Laelth

[MisterP]

6. and its claim to be a new Caliphate, which was latitudinarian more than centralist

heck, the Chechen fighters started out/are Sufis