Former Members Of Saddam's Military Are Joining The Islamic State

Iraqi security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State extremists in the eastern part of Ramadi in Anbar province, May 14, 2015. Islamic State militants raised their black flag over the provincial government compound in the city of Ramadi in western Iraq on Friday, a Reuters witness said. The insurgents attacked Ramadi overnight using six suicide car bombs to reach the city center, where the Anbar governorate compound is located, police sources said. REUTERS/Stringer

Malcolm W. Nance, The Intercept: ISIS Forces That Now Control Ramadi Are Ex-Baathist Saddam Loyalists

The fall of Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, to the Islamic State last month has frayed nerves in Washington, but what few appear to grasp is that ISIS’s May offensive has given Ramadi back to its former owners — the ex-Baathist Sunni terrorists known as the Former Regime Loyalists. The FRLs, as they’re called, were Saddam Hussein’s most ardent followers, the same fighters whom the United States fought non-stop for eight years. Their resurgence has implications not just for the United States but for ISIS itself. For while these forces may fly the ISIS flag today, their ultimate plans for Iraq are quite different than those of the “caliphate.”

ISIS’s roots in Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party are deep — many of the group’s most devoted commanders, advisers and fighters started out as Baathists. The ex-Baathists essentially run ISIS, and their past is evident in the tactics they are using now.

WNU Editor: If you live long enough you will see history repeating itself. In the case of Iraq .... the same men who caused much grief and suffering during (and after) Saddam's rule appear to now be back with a vengeance.