Free Republic

The former vice-president of Baath Party, Izzat Ibrahim has been appointed as the new party leader after the execution of Saddam Hussain, according to a statement issued from the party today. Saddam Hussein`s fugitive deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri vowed that the ousted president`s execution would only strengthen the anti-US insurgency in an internet statement posted Tuesday. "I call on the valiant commanders of the jihad and the brave fighters in all jihadi groups to strive seriously to create a jihad and resistance front .. in order to destroy the enemy and liberate our beloved homeland," said the statement posted on...

The Syrian people are exuberant about the end of the Bashar al-Assad regime. But there is one atrocity by this notorious family that has been described as “one of the darkest moments in the modern history of the Arab world.” That is the 1982 encirclement, starvation and mass execution of the residents of the Syrian city of Hama. This atrocity was committed by Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad. Last Friday, residents of Hama tore down the statue of Hafez al-Assad while the city fell to rebels. While much of the world just saw it as another Syrian city falling, its significance...