Fedayeen Saddam government officials. As the group had no overt religious affiliations, it had a mix of Sunni and Shia members. The Fedayeen were among the most loyal organizations to the government of Saddam Hussein and were a politically reliable force against domestic opponents. The Fedayeen played a role in the 2003 war, resisting the American-led invasion. Uday Hussein formed the Fedayeen Saddam in 1995 with ten to fifteen thousand recruits from the Iraqi regions most loyal to the Ba'ath Party. Uday used the Fedayeen for personal reasons such as smuggling and suppressing opponents. Command of the militia was handed to Qusay
Arab socialism thought, and it featured in the party's trinity slogan "Unity, liberty, socialism". However, by using the term Arab socialism Aflaq did not mean socialism as used normally; his version equated socialism with Arab nationalism. In a written statement from 1946, Aflaq wrote "The Arab nationalists are socialists", hence "there is neither incompatibility nor contradiction nor war between nationalists and socialists." Socialism in his mind was subservient to the Arab unity project and liberty, however, he did believe that fighting for Arab liberation and unity was the same as fighting for socialism, believing they were the same side of the same