SYRIA - ISIS Gains

"What do recent gains in Syria mean for the Islamic State?" PBS NewsHour 4/5/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Despite being ousted recently from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, Iraq, the Islamic State made important new gains this weekend in Syria, taking control of an area near Damascus.  Part of what is driving the extremist group's success is the growing role of former officials from Saddam Hussein's military who are now playing a key role within ISIS.  Liz Sly, the Beirut bureau chief for The Washington Post, joins Hari Sreenivasan via Skype from Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Iran, of course, is working alongside the United States in the fight against ISIS.  Despite being ousted recently from Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, the extremist group made important new gains this weekend in Syria, taking control of an area near Damascus.

Part of what is driving ISIS’ success is the growing role of former officials from Saddam Hussein’s military, members of the once dominant Baathist Party.  They are now playing a key role within ISIS.

Liz Sly of The Washington Post wrote about this, joins us now via Skype from Beirut, Lebanon.

So, first of all, how are they involved?  Where are they involved?  And what roles do they play?

LIZ SLY, The Washington Post:  Well, really, they’re involved at every level of the senior leadership.  Most of the senior leadership are former Baathists.  They are officers in the army.

The senior leaders of ISIS served in Saddam Hussein’s army.  They lost their jobs after the de-Baathification law in 2003.  They went through various permutations of insurgency.  Maybe they left the insurgency.  Maybe they went back.  But, in the past few years, we have seen an aggressive attempt by the current leader of ISIS to recruit them into the ranks of ISIS.  And, really, the organization is run and controlled by Iraqis.