1941: IRAQ AND THE ILLUMINATI The growing guerrilla war in Iraq
has shown Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to be far more resilient
than anyone realized. To understand their resilience and grass-
roots strength, one must look at the party's mystical origins.
Columnist Maureen Dowd says the Arabic word Baath stands for
resurrection. But Baath is not a word that translates well into
English. A better synonym would be the Italian word
Risorgimento. Actually, the party had its origin in the little
town of Asadabad in western Iran. Here, in 1839, was born Sayyid
Jamal ad-Din, a Muslim mystic sometimes known as al-Afghani
(Arabic for the Afghan--J.T.) and "the Sage of the East." Jamal
ad-Din was raised as a Shiite Muslim and, in 1845, his family
enrolled him in a madrassa (Islamic school) in the holy city of
Najaf in what is now Iraq. Here Jamal was initiated into "the
mysteries" by "followers of Sheik Ahmad Asai (1753-1826). He
also may have had some family connections with the Babis,
followers of Siyyid Ali Mohammed a