Baath Party, Ba'ath Party Quotes
This Arab nationalist leader was actually a Christian Orthodox by religion. He also tried to make the Baath party a secular state and he was a strong advocate of free speech and democracy. When the Islamic fundamentalists became important in Mid East Politics, the Baath Iraq Government under Saddam Hussein claimed, with no evidence, that Aflaq converted to Islam on his deathbed, thus making his philosophy more acceptable to the vast majority of Arabs.
3 years thereafter Saddam was tried by an Iraqi court, found guilty, and hanged.
This quotation would not be memorable but for the fact that one of the other “passengers” on that Central Intelligence Agency “train” was Saddam Hussein, who later became the dictator of Iraq and the enemy of the United States. This was a classic example of unintended consequences of covert operations. The Cia covertly put the Baath Party in power in Iran, and some years later, the Iraqi Baath Party became a major enemy of the United States.
