Early Political Career
Dr. Alsammarae was a member of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party during the 1970s while a young college student in Baghdad, Iraq and was required to remain a Ba'ath Party member in order to obtain a scholarship to continue his studies in the USA. In January 1980, Dr. Alsammarae resigned from the party upon news of the execution of two brothers-in-law and one cousin. All three men had been accused of planning a coup attempt against Saddam Hussein; Alsammarae was later implicated in the alleged coup attempt by Iraqi Intelligence officials. Upon resignation from the Ba'ath Party, Dr. Alsammarae became active in the Iraqi opposition as well as numerous Iraqi charity and humanitarian groups. In the 1990s, Dr. Alsammarae was elected to serve as national board member in the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee and used his role to work on behalf of those suffering under economic sanctions in Iraq. In addition to giving numerous lectures on the detrimental effects of the sanctions on the population of Iraq, Dr. Alsammarae organized numerous humanitarian shipments of food, clothing and medicine to Iraq.
In 2002, the USA brought numerous Iraqi opposition groups and active opposition members together to discuss the potential for a post-Saddam Iraq. Dr. Alsammarae was in attendance at these meetings, and was elected by fellow opposition members to be one of the 65 members of the Coordinating Committee. At these meetings, he advocated the establishment of a secular, democratic Iraq within its currently defined borders. He was strongly opposed to the creation of an Iraqi federation as well as de-Ba'athifaction, both of which were policies put forth by Ahmed Chalabi. Dr. Alsammarae has criticized Chalabi's policies and behavior in many instances, including a Washington Times article where Dr. Alsammarae denounced Chalabi's move to a former Hussein palace. Such criticism, though supported by many Iraqi politicians, has rendered Chalabi a relentless political enemy to Dr. Alsammarae, and a web page deriding Dr. Alsammarae can be found on Chalabi's political party website.
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