De-Baathification, Root and Branch

Washington Post ^ | 04/24/03 | Jim Hoagland

[Pokey78]

Iraq's surprises may not be over for the Bush administration, which is learning that history is inevitable only in retrospect.

The biggest immediate risk in the wake of the stunning U.S. battlefield victory lies in underestimating once again the determination and venomous nature of Saddam Hussein's Baathist Party apparatus, which struggles to regroup in the ruins of Baghdad and other cities.

The American military was surprised on two fronts in the war. First it did not expect Baathist death squads to show up and fight to extinction in Basra and other points along the invasion route. The second surprise came from the lack of such bitter-end resistance in Baghdad.

That mirror-image result may be explained by the demonstration effect of the futility of the death squad tactics in Basra -- as predicted by the British commanders who won that battle. But it is also possible that the surprised Iraqi dictator folded his hand quickly in Baghdad to preserve resources and people for guerrilla war or insurrection with or without him.

Free Iraqi Forces in Baghdad have picked up signs of new underground armed Baathist groupings calling themselves "Those Who Return." As long as there is doubt about whether he lives, Hussein serves as inspiration for such gangs. Their cause was helped by the circulation of the videotape that purported to show him alive as late as April 9.