Der Spiegel: Baath-regimets rolle bak IS

På lørdag publiserte Der Spiegel en lengre reportasje om opphavet til IS i Syria og Irak, basert på nylig funnede dokumenter. Den nære koblingen til Saddams gamle Baath-parti er kanskje det mest oppsiktsvekkende, selv om vi på forhånd visste at mange av Saddams offiserer har ledende posisjoner i IS.

"Even his best-known pseudonym, Haji Bakr, wasn't widely known. But that was precisely part of the plan. The former colonel in the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein's air defense force had been secretly pulling the strings at IS for years. Former members of the group had repeatedly mentioned him as one of its leading figures. Still, it was never clear what exactly his role was.

But when the architect of the Islamic State died, he left something behind that he had intended to keep strictly confidential: the blueprint for this state. (...)