Mr. Atiyah Al-Jodah

The Baath Arab Socialist Party was officially founded on the seventh of April 1947 following a congress held in Damascus from 4-6 April 1947 directly after a period of preaching and calling for the principles and thoughts of the party started at the beginning of the forties. This congress is considered the foundational congress of the party.

Many documents were issued by the foundational congress. The most important of them were the constitution of the party in addition to a bylaw which deals with the organizational affair and a political statement in which the establishment and trends of the party were announced.

The constitution of the party included the basic and general principles and the intellectual, organizational, political and programmatic organizations on which he was based on and which were the starting point of the struggle-march of the party. In this constitution the party put forward his fundamental slogan "One Arab Nation who has an Eternal Mission" and his major fundamental objectives "Unity, Freedom and Socialism".

These objectives and slogan express the party belief in the Arab nationalism in its liberal and humane content which is a movement of a divided people suffering from backwardness, exploitation and colonial domination and fighting for liberation, democracy, Arab unity and achieving the social justice.

The center of the party was in Damascus and soon branches in many Arab countries were formed, especially in the east ones. On the basis of his intellectual, political, and programmatic springboards and his presenting of the national and social issues of the Arab nation, he could attract broad groups of the people masses, beginning with the educated elites who played an important role in spreading the party ideology, trends, programs and his stands towards different issues. On this basis, he struggled for the pioneer role he undertook to put forward the thoughts of liberation, Arab unity and social justice and resist the colonial imperialistic Zionist plans and projects. In Syria, for example, the party was one of the basic liberation powers in fighting the alliances and through the backing he had in the Parliament he participated in many governments the last of them was the one that achieved the unity. He also had a role in issuing laws that prevented displacing the peasants and nationalized the electricity company. Moreover, he had his presence in the countries where he existed and was widely known, could achieve important successes and turned into an effective and influential power due to the broad people masses gathering around him.

Some of his most outstanding successes were : his pioneer and leading role in calling for the idea of Arab nationalism and unity, implanting this idea, converging with 23 July revolution in Egypt under the leadership of Jamal AbdulNaser, achieving the first unionist attempt in the recent Arab history and carrying out the eighth of March 1963 revolution in Syria in which he led the process of the deep and broad political, economical, social and cultural changes which accomplished important achievements included all fields, especially after the Corrective Movement in 1970 led by president Hafez Al-Assad . These changes and achievements consolidated Syria status and her role at the Arab and international levels. Consequently, he could build a modern state of pioneer role and active and effective presence interarab and internationally.

During his struggle-March the party suffered from some mentalities in his leadership that stood in the way of his developments. He managed to get rid of and segregated them of the party after an internal movement on 23 February 1966. However, these segregated elements formed another independent organization with Baghdad as its center. It carried the same name as the party and put forward the same slogans and objectives. Later on those who formed it, the most eminent of them was the former president Saddam Housain, carried out a military coup in Iraq in 18 July 1968 and seized power. They had their own policy, practices and relations which totally differ from the polices, practices, relations and stands of the Baath Arab Socialist Party Organization and his leadership in Syria.

Thus what was called the Baath Arab Socialist Party in Iraq is no more than another independent organization has no relation at all with the Baath Arab Socialist Party and his leadership in Syria and totally differs from him in its policies, practices, relations and its total stands even though it had the same name and presented the same slogans.

This is what both organizations policies and practices clarify and confirm.

While the policy , practices and relations of the Baath Arab Socialist Party organization and his leadership in Syria are based on party, political and economical pluralism at the internal level and on cooperation, solidarity, calling for Arab unity at the Arab level, openness to whole the countries in the world and the adherence to establish good relations with these countries on the basis of mutual respect and common interests in the light of the international law and the United Nations principles. Also his stands towards the region issues with the Arab-Israeli conflict placed at the head are based on the abidance by the international legitimacy logic and its relevant resolutions, particularly the resolutions No. 242 and 338 and the land for peace principles, with the aim of achieving just and comprehensive peace in the region… This is what was confirmed by Syria peaceful trends , her positions towards peace process and her positive dealing with the sincere international efforts exerted for establishing real peace based on justice and comprehensiveness and which includes the complete withdrawal from the Arab land that were occupied in the June 1967 aggression, the Syrian land in Al-Golan, the Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and the Lebanese Shabba farms and guaranteeing the Palestinian refugee right in returning back to their land according to the resolution No.194 issued by the United Nations.

The polices, practices and positions of the regime leadership and what was called the Baath Arab Socialist Party Organization in Iraq were based on extremism, adventure tendency, aggression and deviation from rationality and from the solutions that are based on dialogue and understanding language. This appeared most clearly in the enmity policy which it followed with all the neighborhood countries. For example, it declared itself the enemy of Syria and it is not forgotten yet the crazy war waged by the Iraqi regime against Iran then Al-Kuwait, etc.. In addition to its policy and internal practices which are based on repression.

It is well known that the practices of the Iraqi regime and President Saddam Housain brought to Iraq and the Arab Nation the grossest damages and losses and led Iraq to its present condition under the shade of the American occupation which brought to Iraq the most severe dangers. The results of this occupation were disastrous on Iraq in particular and on the Arab Nation in general and its consequences were negative at the world level.

Therefore, Syria position of the American war on Iraq is rejection, condemnation and considering it illegitimate. Her positions have always been the abidance by Iraq unity land and people, calling for ending the occupation on his land, restoring his complete sovereignty and establishing a productive legitimate government expresses the Iraqi peoples will .

Finally, what deserves to be mentioned is that the Baath Arab Socialist party and his leadership in Syria have been always keen on keeping up with the variables in the region and the world and responding to their requirements. His policy is characterized by realism, rationalism and meeting the necessity to develop and modernize. Therefore, under the recent circumstances he places the following at the head of his missions : developing, modernizing and updating his ideology , setting the mechanisms and work forms which are appropriate for this and which qualify him more and more to carry out his role in serving the National and humane issues and consolidating the language of dialogue among nations and peoples.