Baath Party akin to Nazis, Chalabi says

[sabra]

Source: UPI

BAGHDAD, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The outlawed Baath Party of Iraq is a totalitarian power akin to the Nazi Party of Germany under Adolf Hitler, said chief election
overseer Ahmad Chalabi.

Chalabi, once a favorite of Washington strategists in the run-up to the ouster of Saddam Hussein and now head of the Justice and Accountability Commission, spoke with Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV on the stormy election season under way in Iraq.

...

"Just like the Nazi party they practiced genocide and they killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and they promoted war just like the Nazi party in Germany as a way to solve crisis and international problems and the crimes they committed in Iraq," Chalabi, a Shiite, told Press TV.

Chalabi in September was mentioned as a possible candidate to unseat Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, running on his Iraqi National Congress ticket. He told Press TV that U.S. officials wanted to see the return of Baathist elements in Baghdad as a way to contain Iranian influence in Iraq.

If they returned, he warned, "oppression, genocide and conflict" would return to Iraq and "and further decline of the quality of life of Iraqi people."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/02/15/Baath-Party-akin-to-Nazis-Chalabi-says/UPI-54131266251973/

[YOY]

1. You know who were akin to the Nazis?

The Nazis.

Freaking Godwin's law and idjits.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Never mid that he is right. The Baath party IS a direct descendent

of Naziism. They took the structure and the methods of the Nazis and applied them to their own culture. It was militaristic, anti-democratic, and nationalistic. It was a thugocracy. OTOH, in the Iraqi iteration of it, it was more egalitarian, more supporting of women's rights, more supporting of ethnic minorities that submitted to its rule (did not target Jews, had Christians in government, but violently repressed the Kurds).

But of course, Chalabi did not say they WERE nazis. He said they were akin to nazis. Which is historical fact, whether you like Chalabi or not.

[The Stranger]

9. Actually, the Baathists are Left-leaning, completely the opposite of the Nazis.

But what the Baathists are is Pan-Arabists. That is why they are so demonized.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. Baathists picked and chose what they liked from authoritarian regimes.

They started as pan-Arabists, including Syria, Libya and Egypt in their circle, but Saddam re-molded the party as he saw fit. In the post-war world they claimed to be leftist to get support from the Soviet Union, but they still did not allow a Communist party to exist.

[The Stranger]

16. Unlike most political parties in the Middle East, it is secular and secularist.

This is in marked contrast to the reactionary religious parties and movements arising out of Islamic fundamentalistm. The Soviet Union supported them because they were essentially Leftist and secularist. They "claimed to be leftist" because that is what they are or were.

They also typically nationalized their natural resources, which upset the West's imperialist goal of sucking as much oil and gas out of the ground from beneath them as possible. Since they also stood for Pan-Arabism, they represented a threat to Israel.

[boppers]

20. Left-leaning (and right-leaning) is too narrow for either, as both were a mix.

Baathists and Nazi's both supported some pretty leftist views:
Seizing private property and industry for the collective good of the state
Equality of women in government
Public education
After-school programs for teens
Nationalized infrastructure (roads, trains, power, water)
Championing "the worker"

I could go on, but in general, a dangerous mix is created when leftist views come enforced at gunpoint, and the levers of power are unchecked by viable opposition.

[David__77]

2. Iraq-Iran alliance already exists and is inevitable.

Interestingly, the US presence in Iraq is in a sense a plus for the Iranian government. Maintaining a semblance of order in Iraq means having to maintain peace with Iran.

[Dr.Phool]

3. Ahmad Chalabi

The Evan Bayh of Baghdad.

[EFerrari]

12. How many weeks to baseball, anyway?

Why do these dufi get any space at all.

[Dr.Phool]

14. Spring training starts this week.

Phillies are right down the street.

[EFerrari]

15. Oh, thank God.

LOL

:hi:

[LynnTheDem]

4. 2 things;

1. Bullshit.

2. Chalabi. Yeah, there's someone who should be listened to.

[Confusious]

6. Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Baath Party!

Hmmmm, could be a Broadway hit.

[prezpeng]

7. No doubt

Did we expect anything different? It's all politics, I'm sure Bush got some secret oil pipelines opened that we still don't know about, that's why he removed Saddam.

[MilesColtrane]

8. Just like a remora.

He seeks out the biggest shark he can find, attaches himself and starts sucking.

He did it to Bush.

Now he's trying it with Khamenei and Ahmadinejad.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Chalabi is the election overseer?

So much for free elections!

[Tempest]

13. As if some of the Shiite parties are any better

Chalabi should start weeding out the nazi elements from his party as well.

[tom_paine]

17. Is THAT why the Dulles/Bush faction of the CIA put 'em in in 1963?

Probably part of the upside. Wherever they personally fell on the left/right political spectrum, they were brutal and they hated Commies.

Look it up.

[bemildred]

18. Chalabi akin to weasels, Bemildred says. nt

[New Dawn]

19. Chalabi and his Neocon masters killed up to 3 million Iraqis.

1.3 million from the latest invasion/occupation. 500,000 to 1.5 million from the 12 years of sanctions. And many more during the Gulf War and other bombings during the 1990s. So it is quite ironic that he brings up the Nazis...

[provis99]

21. and Chalabi is akin to convicted criminals.

so what is his point, exactly?