History of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region Soon after, the Ba'ath Party established itself as a critic of the perceived ideological inefficiencies of old Syrian nationalism. Pan-Arabism became popular among Arabs after World War II. Aflaq, the main originator of Ba'athist ideology, drew heavily from Islam and its values. He wrote that the time of Muhammad represented the ideal Arab community and that the Arabs had fallen under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and the Europeans. "Ba'ath" means "restoration", and the party's programme called for Arab restoration through modernisation. The most important influence upon Alfaq and al-Bitar was European socialism, which became the basis of their
Execution of Saddam Hussein to Saddam's execution, described Saddam as repeatedly shouting "down with the invaders." Al-Rubaie reportedly asked Saddam if he had any remorse or fear, to which Saddam replied: Sami al-Askari, a witness to the execution, said, "Before the rope was put around his neck, Saddam shouted, 'Allahu Akbar. The Muslim Ummah will be victorious and Palestine is Arab!'" Saddam also stressed that the Iraqis should fight the American invaders. After the rope was secured, guards shouted various rebukes including "Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada!" as reference to Muqtada al-Sadr; Saddam repeated the name mockingly and rebuked the shouts stating, "Do you consider this