Identity and the Ba'th Regime's Campaign against Kurdish Rebels in Northern Iraq

Abstract

Throughout its existence, the Iraqi Ba'thist regime engaged in a war against Kurdish insurgents. Declassified Ba'th Party documents reveal that beyond military means, Baghdad saw identity as a useful resource in suppressing the uprising. The documents tell of a sophisticated divide-and-rule strategy, using bureaucracy, law, and militia recruitment to manipulate the various minority communities in northern Iraq against the rebels and each other. Drawing on these documents, this article provides a detailed analysis of this strategy.