The Iraqi Communist Party

["Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Iraqi Communist Party
Founded 1934
Base of Operations: Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan
Military Capabilities: NA
Founded in 1934, the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) is the oldest party on
the political scene. From inception, it attracted young members of the
Shiite community, and much of its recruitment and activity took place in
southern Iraq. The Communists appealed to the educated and more secular
minded  though often economically disadvantaged  members of the
population, who welcomed its calls for political and social equality.
Historically, it was one of the more effective parties, and to this day,
it retains a degree of loyalty among Kurds and the Shiite urban
population in the South, including possibly a presence on the ground,
especially in urban centres like Baghdad.
The Communists faced repression until the monarchy was overthrown in
1958 but gained considerable influence during the 1960s. After the Baath
Party seized power in 1968 and the new regime signed a friendship
agreement with the Soviet Union in 1972, the pro-Soviet ICP joined the
Baath-dominated National Progressive Patriotic Front in 1973. However,
when Saddam Hussein took over the presidency and Baath Party leadership
in 1979, the Front was brutally disbanded. The regime moved against the
Communist Party and persecuted its members. As a result, the ICP took up
arms, transferred its centre of operations to Kurdistan, and established
close relations with the KDP and the PUK while fighting alongside their
peshmerga. Following the 1987-88 campaigns against the Kurds, the ICP
once more was forced to move, this time to Syria. After the Soviet
Unions collapse, it kept its name, while shifting its ideological
platform away from classical Marxism-Leninism.
While the Communist Party continues to hope that Saddam Hussein will be
ousted by a mass uprising, it acknowledges the difficulties inherent in
the absence of a unified opposition. It also has come to see the need
for significant backing by the armed forces. Leery of a U.S.-led
military intervention, it nonetheless has suggested that it could
support it in order to overthrow the regime and establish a political
system within which it once again could freely operate.
How significant a role the ICP might play in a future Iraq is debatable.
Certainly its strong domestic roots, its legitimacy as a nationalist
party, and its ability to attract sympathisers across religious lines
provide it with relative strengths compared to a number of other
opposition groups.

ICG Middle East Report No6 1 October 2002


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