The Iraqi Ba'ath Party, formally known as the the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party - Iraq Region, was a Ba'athist political party in Iraq that existed between 1951 and 2003. The party was founded by Fuad al-Rikabi, and Saddam Hussein would emerge as its leader during the 1970s after it seized power in the 17 July Revolution of 1968, overthrowing Abdul Rahman Arif's corrupt and weak government. Under Saddam, the party made Iraq a new country, secularizing politics and nationalizing banks to achieve a state economy. The party emerged as a result of a split in the old Ba'ath Party, having right-wing and fascist views, while the rival Syrian Regional Branch had left-wing and socialistic views.
The country was supported by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and when Iran became a Shia theocracy in 1979, the United States supported Iraq against Ayatollah Khomeini during the Iran-Iraq War. However, the Ba'ath Party was accused of human rights violations such as killing or imprisoning political opponents, persecuting Shi'ites, and using chemical weapons to crush uprisings by the Kurds, and the Ba'ath Party was overthrown in 2003 when the USA and other Western countries invaded the country in 2003. Since 2003, the Ba'ath Party was outlawed, with its remaining 100,000+ members starting an insurgency against the Americans and their allies in hopes of regaining power. Many military leaders of the Islamic State group were also formed Iraqi Army officers, as were most of the militant groups' commanders.
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